Silver Moon
by prettypriestess
Summary: Isaac and Felix switch places. Now Felix has to chase him down. Hero and antihero are switched, but what does it really mean for Weyard? Earthship.
1. Prologue

_Revised (heavily) as of February 2010. _I know I said something about updating after November, and uh, technically, it _is _after November, so. _I'm sorry._

_Updated (minimally) as of Oct. 2009. _So, uh, finally coming back to this. Look, I don't wanna talk about my shame, let's just write this and pretend I never deserted for a year.

**Warnings:** Slash, femslash, and het. I'm here to offend your delicate sensibilities. Also: I defy the laws of physics here, so please, if the physics police come by, I was _never here_, mmkay?**  
Pairings:** FelixIsaac in later chapters. (Other pairings eventually, but we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.)**  
Rating:** T, overall (mostly for language). G for this chapter.**  
Notes/Summary:** Isaac & Felix switch places, so now the angst is turned around, and brother and sister are split! Oh my! Er, AU, anyone? Also, how much do I love that ginormous is a legitimate word? (A lot.)

---

**Prologue**_**  
**__Three Years Ago_

---

Felix sputtered, coughing up water and gasping for air, only to inhale more from the rain and river. He could no longer tell which was hitting his face. When he came up, he thought he could hear voices in the distance, but the roaring waters drowned them out; all the same, he was fairly positive it was his parents.

He fell under again after a particularly strong current threatened to sweep him away. Felix choked on water before heaving himself back toward the broken bridge post. He could not feel his fingers any longer, but the way he had his elbows hooked around the bridge post, hugging it for dear life, he didn't think he really needed to. Maybe he could work up the effort to be concerned about them later. Perhaps when he could breathe.

The waters didn't really _calm_ but they were less raging long enough for Felix to spy a group of figures in front of a blurred mass that was (probably) his house. Felix could barely make out anything through the rain and splashing water, but there were definitely two blonds and two red-heads.

The people had come from behind his house, Felix thought, near those stairs the adults didn't like to see the boys and Jenna using because they were so high up and didn't have a rail. The colors of everyone's tunics were too bland; they faded into the murkiness that everything seemed to be covered with, making it appear as if each person merely consisted of his or her hair color. Dora was the exception. She wore her usual brightly-colored dress. Dora appeared to be a tropical bird from this distance, but maybe that was just the hysteria creeping into Felix's mind already.

Felix lost his grip for a moment again, sliding under just long enough to remind himself he needed to focus more on staying alive and less on all those _exciting_ things around him. Felix coughed up more water. If there was one thing he had learned so far, it was that drowning was _confusing_. He had lost all sense of direction again. When he finally spotted his house across the river, he noticed that there was only one figure standing by it. Dora, he thought. She looked no less like an out-of-place bright bird than she had before.

The others must have gone for help, which meant the only thing Felix had to do was hold on. He heard thunder boom ominously over the roar of the river and the falling rain, and was reminded of his mother _warning_ him not to go near water during a thunderstorm. Felix vowed to listen to her forever, no matter what she told him to do once he got out of this.

Felix could tell the exact moment everyone returned. Jenna leaned over the railing of the bridge above, and even while he could barely feel his arms for the chill of the rapids, Felix felt like jumping at her to pull her away from the dangerous edge.

Dora moved, apparently hearing Jenna's voice. To be fair, _she_ wasn't up to her ears in water. Jenna mercifully moved off of the bridge, circling around to the bottom with a blond and a red-head behind her, not much taller than she was. Garet, maybe? And Isaac, too, Felix thought. He bobbed in the water, rolling with the waves. He _still_ couldn't feel his arms. His fingers ached. A fourth figure appeared behind Jenna and her companions. Felix didn't know who that was; he didn't seem to have any defining features.

Suddenly, the waves became more erratic. Everything seemed to be shaking, except the people; they were scattering. Felix saw the shadow before he felt anything. One of the blond figures came flying at him. Felix barely had time to recognize Isaac's bright, sea-blue eyes before he was pulled with all the momentum of the leap. In that one instant, Isaac nearly dislocated both their shoulders, and managed to switch their places mid-air. Felix thought he felt a bit of psynergy course through him, but he was flying toward shore and had no time to think about that. Isaac went under just as a bigger shadow flew over him.

Isaac's effort wasn't enough to get Felix to shore, but Garet and Jenna managed to pull him onto the riverbank with the help of a ginormous wave. Felix scrambled in the mud, getting it under his fingernails and on his pants legs, trying to spin around. He finally managed to get a good look behind him. There was no one. The ruined bridge was gone. Isaac was gone. His parents were _gone_. His only family was standing next to him, in shock, as was Dora who had lost her _whole_ family.

Felix wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to _wake up_, but he knew even a nightmare couldn't fabricate the feel of the mud seeping through his clothes. As if the rain and river hadn't been enough.

Dora came to her senses first. She had to shout to be heard over the roaring waters and rain, which seemed so much _quieter_ now that they weren't trying to fill Felix's ears. "Go!" she screamed. "Get help before they all drown!"

The man who had come to help Felix couldn't move. He was twice Felix's height, ten times the muscle, and far more psynergy was in his body than in Felix's, and he _couldn't move_. Felix ran for the bridge, dodging Jenna and Garet and the stranger with the muscles and too much fear.

Garet came to his senses when he saw Felix run by, and followed as quickly as he could. Felix heard his footsteps, dull splashes on the grass and mud, wet thunks on the bridge, but he did not slow down.

On the way to the plaza, Felix heard a voice, rich and male. The sort of voice he could picture being a tall, dark stranger with too much money and large ambitions. "It's a miracle even the two of us were spared," the voice said. Felix stopped. The two of _who?_ Spared? It was a _storm_, not an evil mastermind.

A female responded in a cold, calculating tone, "That switch… it must have been a trap…" Felix stopped moving. He could redirect Garet while he tried to take on these strangers. What were they doing, looting the town? At a time like this? Something had to be done.

"But to think it could conjure a storm this powerful!" The male replied, a mixture of awe and anger clouding his voice. _Conjure a storm?_ Felix thought. It was settled, he would redirect Garet, and he would _definitely_ destroy these two.

The woman continued, "…Another demonstration of the awesome powers of alchemy."

"Regardless, we must not fail the next time we challenge Sol Sanctum." Sol Sanctum? These strangers had gone inside? The sanctum was a sacred place! And these outsiders had _defiled_ it, costing him his parents and best friend?

The woman's voice cut through Felix's thoughts, "Next time we shall certainly—" _Next time?_ Felix thought angrily. _Next time?_

"Felix, wait up!" Garet yelled. Felix froze in his place. Those foreigners had _definitely _heard that. Felix spun, motioning for Garet to keep going, get help, save everyone.

The masculine voice was suddenly much, much closer. "You were eavesdropping just now… weren't you?" Felix could barely make out blue above him. It looked like the sky had cleared up in a single, man-shaped patch on the ledge directly above Felix. Felix jumped back, reaching for his pocket knife. He did not _have_ his pocket knife. He chalked up one more thing these strangers had stolen from him.

Another figure appeared at the man's side, in yellow and pink. She had an elaborate headdress or long, water-resistant hair, Felix couldn't tell which; and she seemed to be even brighter than her partner.

"Felix… Felix, they look scary… Are you sure you should be talking to them?" Garet asked, backing away. Felix shivered in the rain, from more than just the cold.

The woman jumped down, landing in front of Felix and Garet. "You must forget everything you heard," she said, her voice betraying her glee. Felix could see the glint of her teeth flashing through the storm. Lightning flashed behind her.

The blue man followed, getting close enough for the boys to see the dangerous smirk crossing his features. "Don't worry," he grinned even wider, "We'll help you forget."

The boys never stood a chance.


	2. Calm before the Quest

_Revised (heavily) as of February 12, 2010._

_Update: _Um, long ago, someone pointed out that it's "psynergy" and not "psyenergy" and I swear I corrected that when I heard, but bleargh with FFnet's edit/upload system. Fixed for real now.

**Warnings:** Felix talks, like for realz. (Eventually, Isaac will talk, too. I know, weird, right? No silent protagonists here.)**  
Pairings:** Still none yet, but the main pairing _will_ be FelixIsaac. Er, soon.**  
Rating:** For this chapter it's K+ I guess.**  
Notes:** Here we find that Felix does have a nice set of vocal chords. I did add a new ability to the adepts' repertoire (it seems silly to have three years and nothing but a cure spell & _move_ to show for it). They can now (with much concentration) sense the power of those of their own element. To Jenna, Saturos & Menardi seem like a bottomless pit of Mars-aligned alchemy.

---

_The Calm Before The Quest_

---

Felix sat up, gasping for breath. It was the same dream again, his mind replaying the events of three years ago. He glanced out the window beside his bed; the sun was high in the sky already, signaling that is was at least noon, and Felix had promised Dora he would help repair her roof!

Felix ran around his room, grabbing his boots and the old, greed cloak Isaac gave him before… before the storm. He would have to put the cloak on at Kraden's; Felix feared it might upset Dora. Jenna still had Felix, and they both had their grandparents, but Dora was by herself these days. Felix had had to offer to fix her roof, because she did not want to ask anyone to do it.

Most of the town had recovered since that day, excepting, of course, Felix and Jenna's old house. They salvaged what they could, but it was better put to use as a handy source of firewood than a place to live.

Even the old house, though, had recovered better than Dora. At first she seemed to be grieving normally; she cried, she didn't eat, but everyone thought she would get over it. She was _Dora_ of _Vale_. There was no way she wouldn't recover.

Now, she was lucky if she was well enough to leave the house. The great healer of Sol Sanctum visited Dora's house regularly. Every night before she went to sleep, Felix could feel the pull of _cure_ psynergy from her house. He wanted to help, but his _cure_ technique just wasn't good enough yet.

Felix tried to help with the housework as often as possible, frequently dragging Garet with him, and Jenna often cooked for Dora (the burns meant love!)but Dora was only managing to reach an equilibrium, not recovering.

On sheer whim, Felix grabbed the yellow scarf he had planned to give Isaac on his birthday, which had only been a week after the storm, before heading out the door and taking the long way to Dora's.

---

Jenna looked for Garet; she couldn't feel his psynergy in his house, but it was definitely nearby. He was practicing his psynergy again before they went to Kraden's. Jenna paused in her search, glancing skyward. The heat of the noon sun and its bright light hardly affected her. Jenna liked the sun, liked the way it made flowers grow and kept the world warm. When she had first decided she was going to learn psynergy, she told everyone she was going to be a _sun_ adept, four elements be damned. She could still hear her brother's laughter and see Isaac's hesitant smile (because he _knew_ there was no such thing as a sun adept, but he didn't want to correct _Jenna_, she was a _girl_, and she could hit him and not get hit back).

Jenna had never liked rain, not before she lost her parents, and certainly not after. She still was not as fond of nighttime, either. It was probably the fiery spirit of Mars within her, she thought, though Iris-only-knew why Mars's fiery spirit could not inspire Garet to wake more than an hour before noon, the slacker.

Jenna found Garet behind his house, practicing his _move_ psynergy on Kay's flowers. Kay hit Garet across the back of the head, turning to Jenna as if nothing had happened. "Oh, Jenna! Good afternoon!" Kay turned back to her brother, hissing what were probably obscenities under her breath at him. She sighed, before continuing, louder, "I know you want to get stronger, but that's no reason to ignore your surroundings when you train!"

"Yes, mother," Garet mocked, _mov_ing the giant stone back to its previous position, and further damaging his sister's flowers in the process.

Jenna began to tap her foot. "If you don't hurry up, I'm going to Kraden's without you!"

"I'll have you know, psynergy takes a lot of concentration!" Garet shot back.

"Right, little brother, and concentration requires thinking. I know your mind isn't used to that kind of strain, so please try not to hurt yourself," Kay replied with a worried face. Garet glared at her, causing Jenna to begin giggling madly, and Kay soon broke as well, joining the laughter.

At the sound of footsteps, all three of them immediately sobered. A woman came around Garet's house. She looked sickly and confused, her thinning blonde hair and worry wrinkles doing nothing to help her image. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked as if she had just crawled out of bed without bothering to fix her hair or clothing. "Have any of you seen Felix?" Dora asked, her voice hoarse.

Garet shrugged. Kay shook her head. Jenna hesitated before replying, as if afraid that if she spoke too loudly, Dora might break, "He might still be asleep, ma'am. Have you seen him at all this morning?" Dora and the Jerra siblings shook their heads. "He's asleep, then."

Felix chose that moment to appear beside Dora, out of breath and not looking much better. His hair was all over the place. "Sorry, ma'am," he gushed. "I slept in by accident, had a dream about—a weird dream." Mentioning the incident of three years ago around Dora was a big no. She did well enough some days, but never on days when some idiot brought up the subject.

Dora smiled; a kind smile, if a bit sad. "That's quite alright, Felix. Don't you all have plans today?"

Jenna nodded. "We're going to see Mt. Aleph with Kraden today, ma'am."

"Mountain climbing with Kraden, eh? You must feel very lucky to study under such a scholar at the greatest source of alchemy. It's good to see you all working so hard," Dora replied, still smiling.

All three adepts nodded. "Er, Dora, ma'am, Kraden is expecting us soon…" Jenna began.

"Oh, don't worry about the roof! It can be fixed later. You kids go on to Kraden's!" Dora said, waving them toward Kraden's secluded home. Felix hesitated, but Garet and Jenna were already moving.

"Sorry about this," he said.

Dora smiled. "Don't worry, go on," she said, shooing him. She really did look a lot better today. Maybe there was just something in the air today, making it feel like Isaac wasn't gone anymore, Felix thought.

---

"Hmm… He knows much," a rich, masculine voice said. The speaker was probably not far ahead. Felix slowed; he did not mean to eavesdrop, but the voice sounded so _familiar_, and it wasn't a Valean's.

"Yes, we can use him…" a cold, female's voice replied.

Garet and Jenna turned to Felix, confused at his hesitance. "Felix, who are—" Garet began. Felix held up a hand to silence him.

"…And if he won't come willingly, then we can always…" It was the woman's voice again.

"Jenna," Felix said, keeping his voice as low as possible, "gauge their power." Jenna nodded. Psynergy began to flow off of her body in waves, coiling into the air like steam, spreading from her hands to greater effect over the rest of her body.

Her eyes went wide. "They're—"

"You there! What are you doing?" A blue-haired man—or, rather, a man-shaped thing with blue skin and blue clothing and _blue hair_—demanded.

The trio stepped away from the ledge that concealed them from these strangers; a pointless gesture, as the strangers were already in front of them.

"Were you eavesdropping?" the woman demanded. She was _pink_. All over, except for her strikingly blonde hair, which seemed to treat gravity as a mere suggestion, rather than one of a number of laws of the universe it was required to follow.

Felix frowned. "No," he replied curtly.

"Hmph," the woman replied. It was clear that she did not believe him, but Felix, Garet, and Jenna had the home advantage, and greater numbers. "Kraden's engagement must have been with them," she said to her equally strange companion.

Jenna nodded defiantly, though Felix could see her hands shaking. He began recalculating his strategies, should a fight arise. They could run back, but doing so might not mean much against a fire adept.

"Yeah!" Garet added, "We're going to meet him right now."

"Are you?" the blonde woman replied, licking her lips. Psynergy began to gather in her hands, taking the shape of a long weapon.

"Their errand must be more important than our own," the blue man replied, holding up a hand to halt his partner. The bubbles of Mars-based psynergy had nearly formed a complete scythe, but the energy dispersed, and the weapon faded faster than it had come. She scowled.

Garet and Jenna shared a look, before taking a step forward, matching glares focused at the pair who still blocked their way. Felix folded his arms, staring at them expectantly. Bravado could go a long way, especially if neither of them knew how strong Felix was; not as strong as them, probably, but that was the purpose of his bravado. The stranger did know that.

"Are you sure, Saturos?" the woman pressed.

Saturos replied with a comforting, yet eerily calm smile. "Menardi, we have no reason to delay this children any further."

Jenna bristled at being referred to as a mere _child_, but she grabbed Garet's sleeve, moving toward Kraden's house as the strangers stepped aside. She almost did not notice that her brother was still standing in the same place, a curious expression on his face. "Do I know you?" Felix asked.

Saturos seemed genuinely surprised at this suggestion, but Menardi's eyes narrowed. "Why, we've only just met!" Saturos said.

Garet blinked at them, seeming to notice something odd, as well, but thought better of it and decided to hide behind Jenna, just in case. He may have had more luck if Jenna wasn't both thinner and shorter than Garet. Naturally, this caused a scuffle, which Felix was forced to break up. He sighed, dropped the matter, and dragged his fire adept friend and sister to Kraden's.

---

"Felix!" a familiar voice called from the ledge above. Felix led Garet and Jenna up the stairs carved into the side of the mountain to get to Kraden. The old man appeared restless, and the edges of his usual brown cloak were covered in grass. He appeared to have been pacing and talking to himself again.

Jenna was the first to speak up, her nerves returning now that they were out of sight of the mysterious foreigners, "You look like something's bothering you."

"Er, well… ah—" Kraden began.

"It's those two, isn't it? Saturos and Menardi, right?" Garet offered, turning to Felix for confirmation on the names.

Felix paused before replying, "I swear I've seen them before, but I don't know where…"

Kraden sighed. "Those two are still out there? They're persistent. Persistent and _annoying_, not to mention confusing."

"What did they want?" Garet wondered aloud.

Jenna shivered, glancing in the direction they had come from. "They were terribly cold to be Mars adepts… Garet, did you feel their power? I don't _want_ to know what they want."

"They were very strange," Kraden agreed. "They spoke of Mt. Aleph and Sol Sanctum as if they had seen them for themselves."

All three adepts' attention snapped to Kraden. Temple thieves were serious business. "If they went in…" Felix started.

"We've got to tell the elders!" Garet exclaimed.

Felix shook his head, then seemed to remember his hair was a mess; he tied it up before replying, "We can't." Jenna and Garet immediately turned to him. "We don't even know if what they said was true. They might have been bluffing, and if that's the case, we can get in serious trouble for starting something when there is nothing going on."

Kraden nodded his agreement and began pacing.

"Well then, what are we supposed to do?" demanded Jenna.

"We investigate," Kraden replied, grinning maniacally.

Garet took a step back in surprise. "B-but that's impossible!"

"Why?" Kraden asked innocently. "Because it is forbidden? We are only going to see if those two have violated the Sanctum's secrets. We are _investigating_. It's quite different."

Jenna smiled, catching on. "The elders won't mind if they don't see us, right?"

"It will be our little secret," Kraden finished.

Garet and Felix shared a look. It would be up to them to move anything heavy. And to fight any monsters. And to do _all_ of the dirty work. Garet sighed.


	3. The unHero Intro

_Also Updated_. I figure if _ply_ can help cure a cold, it can help with frostbite, too. Seems like _aura_ and _cure_ would do better, though, being warm elements, and all.

**Warnings:** I introduce Alex. I also made him slightly less hateable.Also, spoilers for Lost Age, like woah. So, if you haven't finished that, I'm sorry for being such an ass, but um. Come back when you're done?  
**Pairing:** Hints of onesided AlexMia, and you get your first taste of IsaacFelix.**  
Rating:** still K+ for the chapter.**  
Notes:** I tried not to make any Proxians assholes, except Menardi. She's fun to write. And, lookit, Isaac can talk, too!

---

_The unHero Intro_

_---  
_

Isaac awoke to a soft warmth covering him, relieving quite a bit of pain he had only just realized he was feeling. He opened his eyes to see three blurry spinning figures, one red-haired one and two blondes. The sensation faded though, and Isaac was quickly aware of just how cold and wet he was.

"Another _Aura_ just for good measure, Lily," a voice Isaac recognized as his father's said.

Red blurry spinning figure replied with a nod that looked a bit like a blurry head-bob to Isaac, and used her _aura_ psynergy again. This time when he felt the soft warmth (such a relief from the freezing cold!) the blurry spinning figures began to come into focus.

Kyle, Lily, and her husband, Brian were standing over Isaac with worried looks on their faces. "Are you okay, son?" Kyle asked gently, holding a hand out to help Isaac up.

Isaac sat up before taking his father's hand, and looked around to try and see where they were. "Where's Felix?" he asked, "And where are we?" The only thing he could tell was that this was _definitely_ not Vale. The rocking ground (a ship?!) and the endless deep blue sea were major hints.

"Er…We… um," Lily began.

Brian cut her off with a quick reply. "These two foreigners saved us. I don't know where our son is, or our daughter, either, but the two promised we would see our hometown again. Nothing to fear, Isaac," he assured the shivering boy. He had thought that perhaps telling Isaac everything at once would lessen the impact. It didn't.

From the tallest hill on the edge of Mt. Aleph it was possible to see Vault if one used one of those tele-somethings Kraden had made the children. Isaac looked around the deck. On the tallest area stood a scary blonde woman with an awful lot of pink and red clothing, and a blue man with a blue mohawk was steering the ship.

From what Isaac could see, there wasn't even anything remotely interesting on the horizon. No distant speck like Vault without the tele-something, and no mountains, no trees, no _land_. Everything outside of the ship was water. Salty undrinkable water. Everything might as well have been blank canvas to Isaac. It was the most lost he had ever felt in his life.

---

Isaac gasped as they stepped off of the boat and onto frozen land. A week of being seasick, homesick, and overall feeling lost, andnorth of _here_ was where they would be staying? He didn't even have a cloak or a scarf. None of the Valeans did. They had whatever they had gotten out of the river in. For Isaac this consisted of his pajamas and the old gray tunic he had only worn one other time--the day his mother had given it to him.

Snow came about once a year in Vale. It had only stuck to the ground so that the children could make snowballs once that Isaac could remember. Kyle said it had something to do with all of the fire- and earth-based psynergy coming from Mt Aleph, because even Vault got more snow than Vale.

This place though, far north of little Imil, was even colder than the coldest Valean winter. Colder than the river and storm had been, too. Isaac shivered for the hundredth time, but the for the first time so far, it wasn't because of the cold. _What if Felix didn't make it?_ He thought. So far no one had been able to tell him what had happened after he jumped. It would be ironic, he mused, if Felix hadn't made it out alive, after all. That jump-flip maneuver was by far not guaranteed to even work. There had been a good chance that the momentum would not be enough, that Isaac wouldn't be strong enough…

A thousand things could have gone wrong. He had half-expected to just be pulled into the water with Felix. Isaac was beginning to suspect divine interference.

Dora was probably worried out of her mind, too. To anyone in Vale it would appear as if the four now wandering the wilderness south of Prox had disappeared, not even leaving bodies to be buried. The two that had saved Lily, Brian, Kyle, and Isaac had insisted that there was no time to stop and say goodbye. Isaac had been unconscious at the time the question had been raised.

The freezing snow kept interrupting Isaac's thoughts, though, and he had been falling behind _without_ distractions. Several times the party had had to stop, and Lily would have to use a bit of her psynergy to use _aura_ or to create a small flame to help keep the frostbite away. Menardi kept insisting they just leave him behind, and Saturos would calm her down, then leer at Isaac.

Isaac was slightly less mortified at the cold to know that it was at least summer in Prox. Though one could hardly call it that. Prox possessed two seasons: everything-is-frozen, and most-things-are-frozen. Summer in the general sense that it was actually _warm_ did not exist.

The Proxians had described what could happen to their _own_ people in a particularly nasty winter, let alone what may happen to Valeans used to much warmer weather. Isaac was almost happy to hear that it was summer at that point.

When they (_finally_! Isaac thought) reached the actual town that Saturos and Menardi had described so fondly, Isaac was ushered off to stay with an old Proxian couple, while Kyle, Brian, and Lily got their own frozen home far away from the entrance. Menardi had said something about "No running away."

Really, though, Isaac was quite convinced by the large icebergs that _experienced Proxians_ had narrowly avoided missing. The ship had been odd, too. Only Saturos and Menardi could even get it to move, nevermind steering it. An experienced Proxian escort would be necessary before Isaac even _considered_ running away.

For the first few weeks Isaac had to have a Proxian with him at all times. The pair that had rescued and brought him here had said it was because he possessed Venus psynergy. Autumn came, though, and in Prox it meant that it was close enough to winter that there was no hope for escape, even for seasoned adventurers, meaning Isaac could run free. He mostly chose to stay near Lily because she was the nicest Mars adept around.

By the Weyard equivalent of December, Saturos and Menardi were insisting that Isaac start training his psynergy. This led to being around his and Felix's fathers more often, because they were the only Venus adepts in the entire town.

---

Isaac glanced out the window to gauge the weather before stepping out. He expected to either see the neighboring family's children playing, or to not see them at all. He did _not_ expect to see half of the town's citizens gathered at the entrance to Prox. He grabbed his winter gear (Lily had made it for him, since no one else in Prox needed so much clothing) and ran outside to see what the crowd was trying to see.

Upon arriving two things were made clear by the curious townspeople: one, there was a visitor from Imil, and two, he was as blue as his oversized eyebrows. If someone didn't use a bit of psynergy, preferably an _aura_, then this man was dead.

Isaac pushed his way through the crowd, hoping to try to help the man who had stumbled into the frozen village. The foreigner had blue hair, barely shoulder-length. He would probably grow it out if he had any thoughts about actually staying in Prox. He also had noticeably large eyebrows. Isaac promptly began using the bit of psynergy he had mastered, a simple _cure_ ability. According to Saturos it was not as helpful as _aura_ in this climate, but it was at least warmer than _ply_.

The man began to mumble he didn't need any help, but paused mid-rant when he realized that he was getting feeling back in parts of his body. His fingers and toes were still frozen, and everywhere else was cold, but like Saturos had predicted, _cure_ proved to be warmer than _ply_.

Isaac stood when he was tapped, helped the foreigner up, and began to lead him through the stunned crowd back to the old Proxian couples' home. The man introduced himself as Alex, a Mercury adept from Imil. Alex had thought his _ply_ psynergy would be enough to reach Prox. Had Isaac not happened to see the crowd, though, he probably would have frozen to death. The Proxians were too wary of strangers to go around wasting perfectly good psynergy that could be used to keep the town warmer on _aura_s for strangers.

The old couple Isaac stayed with offered to allow Alex to stay with them. Alex was hardly fit to even sit up comfortably for the first week, and would spend the first few moments of his morning _ply_ing the frostbite out of his fingers. He had nearly lost his fingers and toes to the cold.

Some nights after he began recovering, Alex would pray by his bed. Isaac chalked it up to superstition and Alex's religious upbringing as a priestess's apprentice. Kyle (and Dora, too) had always just left beliefs to Isaac to figure out on his own. The high healer in Vale, though, had only ever believed in the Wise One.

It was on nights that Alex prayed (most nights) that Isaac could wake up to hear the foreigner crying out in his sleep to someone named "Mia". Alex would beg her not to go, and wake up in a fouler mood than usual.

One morning after a quiet night, Isaac got up the courage to ask Alex about his dreams. "What was she like?" he said as soon as Alex began getting his boots on.

Alex tied the boot strings particularly tight, his displeasure at the question becoming evident. "Who?"

"The girl you talk about in your sleep--Mia, right?" Isaac clarified innocently.

"She's the reason I ran away…And the reason I never want to go back," the Mercury adept replied coldly. Isaac began looking around the mess on his side of the tiny room for his own boots while Alex spoke. "So why are _you_ here?" Alex pressed, no doubt trying to stir painful memories for the Venus adept. No one in their right mind but a Proxian could possibly _want_ to live somewhere this cold.

Isaac smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Love. I tried to save my best friend. I don't really know if he made it out alive, though. I was thinking about confessing soon, but he almost drowned, and I thought the least I could do was try to save him," Isaac laughed mirthlessly. "It would be ironic if it turns out that he drowned anyway, and I got saved by Saturos and Menardi."

Alex stiffened a bit at the word "love" and reached for his cloak. "So why didn't you confess sooner?" he asked, keeping his voice carefully even and devoid of any emotion.

"I was afraid it might – aha!" Isaac paused, having found his boots, and sat back down before continuing, "I thought it might ruin the friendship. Notice I said 'he'?" Isaac looked around. Alex had disappeared while he had been talking. "Bastard," he muttered to himself.

Alex was outside. Currently he was practicing his _douse_ psynergy. Isaac got to feel just how cold Prox was while you were wet for trying to ask what he had said wrong. Not that calling Alex a "self-absorbed bastard," and a "cold-hearted prick," exactly helped keep Alex from aiming a _douse_ at the area above Isaac.

The only other thing about Alex's girl that Isaac managed to gather was that she had something to do with an angel. Isaac figured it could have something to do with Alex's religious upbringing, or it could be a pet name. Alex also appeared to have something against vows of celibacy, as he burned several ancient and irreplaceable texts mentioning them after he had memorized any valuable information they held.

Saturos and Menardi were not pleased by this. So much so, in fact, that Menardi had her sister challenge Alex to a duel, instructing her sister to "Aim for the eyebrows!"

Despite all of Alex's unexplained anger and waning self-hatred, the man (who could barely be considered that much) had a _hell_ of a talent for alchemy. Isaac woke up a few months after their argument to find that Alex had somehow taught himself to warp with the help of some ancient (now burned) Proxian scrolls.

By the end of a week, Alex had lost half an eyebrow (not enough concentration!) and returned with an armload of new ancient scrolls from his hometown. With each new thing he learned, Alex began to cheer up, he also began to gain some confidence to go with his determination, and would occasionally help Isaac with his training. He repeatedly insisted that after the first few psynergy techniques, the rest just came to you.

Alex even began to fit in with the Proxians like Isaac did. However, after a raid to a town on Angara that Alex refused to name (Isaac suspected Vale, but couldn't prove anything), Alex doubled his efforts and shunned everyone.

A year later Saturos announced that he, Menardi, and Isaac would be journeying across Weyard to light some lighthouses. After that Isaac, Kyle, Brian, and Lily were free to go back to Vale. Alex offered to go as well, but if his current activities were anything to go by, he would come and go as he pleased. They would pick up a Jupiter adept on the way.

The first stop? Sol Sanctum.

---

A/N: A big thank-you to my reviewers, Camelot, Nintendo, and **Shotgunnova **of Gamefaqs (hooray for game scripts! They make this much less stressful for me). Without them this story wouldn't be much.

And for anyone confused about the benefits of _cure_ vs _ply_ vs _aura_, I am aware that _ply_ actually heals more hp, but I'm referring to the elements, rather than the actual effects. In Contigo it is explained that fire and water are opposing elements, as are earth & wind. Earth & fire are described as warm elements, while wind and water are cold. It makes sense that a cold element isn't going to do a whole helluva lot for frostbite. Obviously _aura_ is the overall best choice for Proxian healing, as it is the equivalent of a warm _wish_ psynergy, but it seems that _cure_ would be warmer than _ply_.


	4. Marble Hunt!

Thank you to demonz8000 for inspiring me to move and type this up! Intros and Prologues are over, the quest begins _here_. Er, officially, anyway. It's still kind of intro…

**Warnings:** Er…nothing really, unless you feel you still need to be warned of slash. My writing style is shifting a bit, too…I'm going from the third person limited to a slightly less limited third person.**  
Pairings:** I guess it could kinda be Felix/Isaacish…**  
Rating:** K+ I guess…unless kidnapping moves it to T.  
**Notes:** PoV switches from Felix party to Isaac party and back. They finally meet!

---

_Marble Hunt!_

_---  
_

After the incident with the lightning bolt downstairs, that was, no doubt, a part of the trap that triggered the storm three years previous, Felix and Garet were hesitant to move anything else. With much effort and a few pointers from Jenna, who flat-out refused to push any statues with them ("You boys will do fine!"), the three Valean teens managed to disarm the trap. Apparently, light reflected by statues with shiny bracelets was the key.

The patterns on the floor where Kraden was standing had switched places--the silver moon and the golden sun were in opposite places. After the previous debates about whether to continue or go back and warn the elders, the choice was clear ("We carry on! We didn't push all of those statues just to turn back!" Jenna insisted).

Walking into a swirling portal (probably of _doom_) into what could easily be another plane of existence was the easiest thing the party of four had done all day.

---

Kraden immediately rushed to the edge of the slimy green platform to look around. He was chattering to himself before Felix even finished floating gracefully out of the portal.

"…Ocean?" Garet finished.

"No, no, it _can't_ be the ocean…The ocean has waves," Kraden amended hastily.

Garet repeated himself louder, "I _said_ 'What is the ocean?'"

"The ocean is a vast expanse of water stretching farther than the eye can see. It's so enourmous one could get lost on it," replied Kraden absentmindedly. "Oh! The elemental stars! They really exist! Oh, my, this is more than I could have hoped to see in my lifetime…"

Felix walked toward the rest of the party, too late to warn Kraden not to try jumping on the platforms leading to the tall statues holding what appeared to be very large glowing marbles. Kraden almost slipped off of the platform before coming back, a bit disappointed that he couldn't see the giant marbles for himself.

Jenna helped him steady himself on the slimy green center platform. Garet was the first to speak what all three teens were thinking, "What are the elemental stars?"

Kraden's eyes gleamed behind his glasses, a sure sign he had a lecture ready. Were it not for the slippery floor, he would have probably paced as he spoke, "You all three recall my lessons about the foundation of all matter, correct?" All three adepts nodded. They could easily recall the four elements that everything was composed of: earth, water, wind, and fire. "The elemental stars are a physical manifestation of these elements, Venus' earthen beauty, Mars' fiery spirit, Jupiter's swift intellect, and Mercury's liquid calm, all manifested before us!" Kraden was absolutly giddy from the discovery.

"Wow, they must be powerful!" Garet exclaimed.

Kraden nodded sagely, "Within these simple baubles lies enough power to conquer the world." He turned to try his luck at jumping to the nearest star, but Jenna held him back. She grinned and turned to Garet and Felix.

"Make the boys get them," she advised.

---

The trio walked through the seldom-used halls of Sol Sanctum, their footsteps echoing throuh the cavernous passages. Isaac was the only of the three to have never visited the hallowed ground before. Saturos and Menardi had come once before with a raiding party. The only reason the pair had made it out alive was because they had merely been the guards at the time. They were to stand at the doors to the Sanctum and warn the others if any curious Valeans tried to play hero.

It was presumed that Alex had visited Sol Sanctum before, as well, but none of the trio was entirely sure of just how far Alex had been. They were also unsure of their bushy-browed accomplice's current whereabouts. This was becoming a more common occurrence each day.

Each new room was a wonder to Isaac, and the final pair of chambers with the silver moon, and shining golden sun on the floors proved to be the most amazing thing he had seen yet. Saturos and Menardi were not pleased to see it, however. An entire raiding party of Prox's finest failed to solve a puzzle that three teens and an old man had no troubles with.

The Proxian pair stepped through the portal with ease, they didn't even have to work to get here. Isaac paused at the entrance to the secret chamber. Someone was clearly ahead of them. He secured the Kibombo tribal mask he had received from Alex a year ago and stepped through, afraid of what, or rather, _who_ he might find.

---

On the other side was water; slimy green pillars with shiny statues of beautiful goddesses holding giant glowing marbles over _water_. A_ lot_ of water. It was a bit like the sea, except the water was clearer and calmer.

In front of them, Garet and Felix were making their way to a glowing purple statue holding one of the aforementioned giant glowing marbles. Saturos and Menardi were already threatening Jenna and Kraden to keep them quiet.

The pair turned around in confusion when they picked up the Jupiter star, despite the Proxians' efforts. They must have been _expecting_ Kraden or Jenna to say something. _Damn_, Isaac thought. He looked around more carefully, only to realize how poor the hide-until-they-get-all-four plan was. The Jupiter platform was completely disconnected from the other stars. The boys would have had to return to the center platform anyway.

"Who are you?" Felix demanded, protective of his sister, as always. "What do you want with Jenna?"

Saturos and Menardi laughed mirthlessly at him. Menardi was the one who spoke first, "We want the elemental stars!"

"No, don't do it, boys!" Kraden yelled.

Isaac bit his lip nervously. Saturos and Menardi were not above using violence and hostages as scare tactics. They preferred intimidation to confrontation. Menardi's sister had been different in that aspect alone.

"Don't give the stars to them!" Kraden insisted when Felix moved to take the mythril bags holding the elemental stars. _Damnit!_ Isaac thought, _Here it comes._

Saturos had been persuaded to promise not to harm any Valeans. Isaac now owed Alex a favor, but the look on Menardi's face when she heard it applied to her as well had been entirely worth it. The two Proxians may be brutes, but they could at least keep a promise. Probably. Of course, they all knew that direct violence was not the only intimidation tactic.

Menardi stepped toward Jenna, psynergy already collecting in her hands. "I suggest you bring those stars over here!" she shouted, smiling maliciously.

Felix and Garet were debating. Isaac could tell every moment of hesitation was paining Felix. He had no idea if Menardi was bluffing. Of course, no one else really knew if she was serious, either. Jenna was his _sister,_ though, and she won over the world in the end. Despite Felix's decision Garet was still a bit wary. "How do we know we can trust you not to hurt them anyway?"

"How indeed," Saturos replied, grinning. "Isaac, take off that ridiculous mask."

Menardi stopped her threatening, allowing her psynergy to fade to smile as well. "Yes, Isaac. Off with the mask, or it's off with her head."

The four Valeans were in awe. Isaac? The same Isaac they thought to be dead? Surely not! Isaac was surprised, too, but he knew it was better not to test Menardi's patience, so he cast the mask into the nearby waters. There was an unnoticed _splash_ resulting from the action.

Felix was the first to react. He grabbed the mythril bag holding the Jupiter star from Garet and rushed toward the center platform. Garet was struck speechless by both Venus adepts' actions, leaving him to gape like a fish on the Jupiter star's platform. Jenna was still stuttering, unable to say Isaac's name.

A swirl of psynergy bubbles in front of Felix diverted eveyone's attention from the walking-dead-boy momentarily. It was Alex. _Of course_, Isaac thought, rolling his eyes, _Show-offy bastard._ He was relieved fot the distraction, all the same.

"Ah, I'll be taking those," said Show-offy bastard, holding his hand out for the stars.

"Go on, he's with us," Saturos assured Felix, who grudgingly handed over the bags of mysterious, shiny overrated marbles.

Alex teleported back to the trio guarding the exit. "What about Jenna and Kraden?" demanded Garet.

"Oh, don't be silly! We want _all_ of the elemental stars, and then you can have _Jenna_ back. We're taking Kraden, regardless," Alex replied nonchalantly.

Garet stomped angrily and nearly lost his footing on the slimy green platform, before deciding that following Felix might be the better course of action. Felix, on the other hand, was busy making his way to the center platform. He completely ignored his two near-slips and was busy fishing around in his cloak for something. By the time he reached Isaac, Felix was holding out a ridiculously long yellow scarf.

Garet had almost caught up with Felix by the time he handed the long yellow scarf to Isaac. After handing it over, Felix stood, staring at Isaac with an unreadable expression on his face. Garet had to tug on Felix's sleeve before he even considered moving.

Isaac had not forgotten where Felix's cloak came from. The scarf he now held was not new. It was well-preserved though, unused for three years, as if it had been meant to be a counter present to the cloak. Isaac had given Felix the green cloak (it still looked fairly new, even now) approxiamately two weeks before the infamous _incident_. It had been entirely too big at the time.

Jenna stood nearby, completely baffled by the exchange. Neither her brother nor Garet had shown any sign at all that they were angry with the traitorous bastard. Isaac was allied with temple robbers, and had _lied_ about his own death; yet, neither Felix nor Garet seemed to care. The only thing stopping her from making a break for it was the bottomless well of psynergy she could feel radiating from the two not-quite-human temple robbers. At this point she was rather glad she was a Mars adept; it meant she couldn't feel how much psynergy the bushy-browed temple robber posessed, as well.

If it weren't for the quake resulting from the removal of the Mars star, neither Isaac nor Jenna would have likely noticed the boys were done until they came back. The flashes of light and the water draining were pretty hard to miss, too, but it was the change in temperature from the magma seeping through the floor where the water had just been that _really_ got everyone's adrenaline pumping.

Alex was the only one completely unphased by the events. He could warp, no need for _him_ to worry. Saturos actually looked surprised, but Menardi was wary. She had summoned her scythe. It could do nothing for her, of course, but it _looked_ deadly, and that was at least a little comforting.

A giant floating rock with a great rocky eye was suddenly in the middle of the room, pushing the lava back and holding the roof up to give the adepts time to escape. Saturos ushered Menardi and Kraden through, only pausing at Jenna because Felix was shouting. He wasn't demanding his sister back, like Isaac expected though, he was shouting, "You had better take care of her until I catch up, you bastard!"

Saturos ushered Jenna through as well, and Alex followed. Isaac fell back so he could be given a chance to speak. "You had better make it out of here alive!" he called back, grinning, because it was like old times again. Just for that one moment they were back in Vale together, goofing off because Felix had been dared to do something dangerous again, except now the game was serious. Isaac reluctantly followed his comrades.

Alex warped the party out of Vale, one at a time. He had to have two psy crystals to make it, because Alex was powerful, but everyone had their limits.

---

"What are you waiting for?" The rocky eye demanded. "Ah, I see,"it said, seeming to understand some simple problem. More rings of psynergy circled it, rising and disappearing. Felix and Garet bacame bubbles of energy that reformed into teenage boys outside of the portal into the elemental stars' chamber.

The boys ran for the exit, ignoring the crumbling bits of ceiling. Garet almost got hit by a falling rock on the way out, but Felix grabbed his arm just in time.

All of Vale was waiting outside of the road to Sol Sanctum, no doubt only waiting so far away because the Great Healer would not allow them to come any closer.

Felix's grandparents, and Garet's entire family were waiting in the front of the crowd. The boys had some explaining to do.

---

A/N: Okay next chapter will be centered on Isaac's party.

I have a question for the audience, regarding pairings. I had originally planned for Garet/Ivan, however, I noticed that Jenna/Sheba is not well-liked by one of my reveiwers. I prefer the odd pairings, but it really makes no sense to ship somehing that the readers don't enjoy anyway. It won't make a major part of the plot (er, that I know of, anyway) but if anyone has something against either pairing speak up now. I'll either change it so everyone ships within their element, or to steamshipping, and Jenna/Sheba, leaving Piers and Ivan to fend for themselves.

If no one feels it necessary to speak out, I'll stick to my original plan. That's all for now.


	5. Dishonor Among Thieves

This chapter's really nothing big, just a sort of "Welcome to the Party!" for Jenna. It also helps characterize Isaac a bit more, too. I've always seen him as the heart-on-his-sleeve guy that sort of liked Felix since they were little. Felix is more the angsty hero, and kind of guy that would help anyone _just because_.

**Warnings:** Mild Shounen-ai hints. Lengthy explanation of some events I skimmed over. Serious-like-huge Lost Age spoilers, too. Though I guess those were in chapter 2, too.**  
Pairings:** Still just Felix/Isaac.  
**Rating:** T for threats of violence, and a bit of swearing.**  
Notes:** By sheer coincidence they never heard about _the boy with strange powers_ (dun dun duuuuuh). Also, Felix appears to have told Jenna about their parents between Mercury and Venus lighthouses, based on her behavior at said lighthouses. Isaac...er, has less patience about the situation.

---

_Dishonor Among Thieves_

_---  
_

Upon entering Vault the party immediately began attracting attention. Saturos and Menardi seemed to think it was due to the low number of travelers visiting such a boring town. Isaac whispered to Jenna that it couldn't _possibly_ be the Proxians' unusual skin (how many travelers have scales?!). He received a burnt sleeve and a bruise on his arm from a well-aimed psynergetic punch for his feeble attempt at humor.

The plan _had been_ to get through town as quickly as possible. Stock up on supplies, perhaps, if need be. Saturos had planned the route to Mercury lighthouse with as few stops as possible. The idea was that they would rush through the lighthouses and be home for Christmas. Not because Weyard actually _had_ a Christmas, but because if the party did_ not _get back to Prox by that time, then they would have to wait at least three months for the ice to melt to get back _into_ Prox.

The first rest was _supposed_ to be at the entrance to Goma Cave. If they went slow. Neither Proxian was pleased to find their hostages refusing to continue. Kraden was unable to go any farther due to his age, but Jenna was merely being uncooperative. Alex would never admit it, but he also needed to rest. He stopped the argument by suggesting that the party rest in town for the old scholar's sake. It wouldn't do to kill the man before he had been of any use.

The party had not planned for inn expenses, though, so Alex, being the one to suggest resting, offered to go find some gold. After he returned Isaac could have sworn he heard some shady-looking men from a few tables over squabbling about their gold. Apparently some of their money had disappeared. As nasty as the three men looked, it could just as easily have been one of them, but Alex had never been above stealing. Especially from self-righteous idiots who thought no one could touch them.

By the time the group had rented a pair of rooms (an extra room for Jenna and Menardi), it was nearing dusk. The raid had begun around noon, and they had made good distance with Alex's help getting out of town, but it was not a tactic to be used often. Normally Alex _warp_ed away to sleep elsewhere (or do whatever else it was Alex did while he was away), but he was in bed, apparently sleeping, before the others even made it upstairs to set down their belongings.

The party, minus Alex, returned to the inn's lower floor to eat a bit of the locals' foods. The meal was simple; it consisted of roasted vermin, a few well-seasoned bat wings, and wild mushrooms cooked to perfection, alongside a basket of rolls. The food was passed counter-clockwise around the table, resulting in Jenna being the one to pass food to Isaac. He never got to try any of the wild mushrooms because Menardi refused to give them to Jenna for fear they would be burnt to a crisp before being handed on to Isaac, like everything else Jenna had given him.

The meal went quietly, everyone being rather glad that they stayed at the inn, sheerly because the meal was so delicious. Not that their joy showed, all three Mars adepts spent most of the meal glaring. Jenna glared because she felt betrayed, Saturos because the food was burnt, and Menardi because she felt like she was babysitting.

Kraden rather enjoyed the meal though, and was completely unaffected by the others' behavior. He chalked it up to youth, and attempted to eat the crispy remains of the food. Isaac was beginning to get upset and a little annoyed, though. How was he supposed to make sure nothing bad happened to his crush's sister if said sister was busy pissing off her temperamental and violent captors, as well as her ally?

Immediately after everyone was finished eating the party was to retire for the night. The Proxians would stay up to re-plan the course to the first lighthouse, accounting for the travel speed of Kraden and Jenna this time. Kraden went straight to the rented inn room to sleep. Isaac, however, was not granted this luxury. Menardi ordered him to watch Jenna in her place until she and Saturos were finished.

Jenna was more than slightly miffed at this show of reasonable distrust. Isaac sighed exasperatedly. He probably would not even get to sleep tonight.

---

When they had all been happy children in Vale Jenna had been absolutely terrible at any sort of sneaking. Even Garet was quieter. Sneaking out had always been Felix's forte, and he was the only one who never got caught, but he always came out of hiding to take the blame for the others' blunders.

Jenna had shown no sign of having any more stealth than she'd had three years previous, especially if the trek to her room was any indication, but Saturos and Menardi did not know this. Besides, three years was a long time.

Isaac was trying hard not to laugh when she stumbled and fell _up _the stairs. _Yup, _he thought, _just as graceful as she always was._ Jenna recovered automatically, and continued as if nothing had happened, expertly ignoring muffled laughter Isaac was trying to pass off as a coughing fit.

Jenna stormed into the tiny two-bed inn room, _hmph_-ing as she threw herself onto the terribly uncomfortable bed away from the window. Menardi had threatened to gut her ("Hostage be damned," she'd growled) if Jenna touched the other lumpy inn bed or the grimy window near it.

Isaac chose to lean casually against the wall and play with the tassels on the scarf that Felix had given him. He had hoped to get some sort of reaction out of Jenna, who had been steadfastly refusing to speak ever since she had attempted to choke out Isaac's name back in the sanctum.

His plan almost worked. Jenna opened her mouth to speak, but immediately closed it again, a look of defiance written upon her face. Isaac sighed inwardly, it looked like the direct approach would be necessary.

"I didn't do anything wrong, you know," said Isaac. Baiting a Mars adept had always proved to be the best way to get them to talk, he had found. He was still unsure if this was because all of the Mars adepts he knew just-so-happened to have short tempers, or if this was a universal thing.

As expected Jenna had to retort, she spoke in a too-nice voice that practically spat sarcasm, "Of course you haven't! There is absolutely nothing wrong with betrayal, lies, temple robbing, and certainly not a thing wrong with hostages! Nope. You're practically a saint." She sneered and turned to face the window in disgust.

Isaac stopped playing with the scarf to look at Jenna coldly as he spoke, "I'm not exactly free to do as I please, either, you know."

Her attention snapped back to her former friend. "Right, silly me, even lapdogs have leashes," she snarled.

"If you'll let me explain–" Isaac began. He was immediately cut off by Jenna plugging her ears and singing loudly and out of tune to block him out. Isaac rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly before tossing the scarf over his shoulder to get the full effect of storming over to Jenna and removing one hand from her ear to yell, "No one died in the storm!"

The effect was instant. Jenna went silent, allowing her hands to fall limply to her sides. "No one?" she echoed.

"Nobody died," Isaac confirmed. "I'm not the only survivor." He waited a moment for her to regain her composure. She didn't. Isaac continued speaking anyway, "Are you going to listen now?" Jenna nodded dumbly. "Good," Isaac continued, his impatience fleeing now that she was willing to cooperate, "Those two downstairs are the couple that saved us. Their names are Saturos and Menardi. If it weren't for them, Lily, Brian, Dad, and I would all have drowned.

"We're all very sorry that we never came back, but we woke up on a ship in the middle of the ocean. We were already being taken to Prox."

Jenna had been nodding every few words until now, but she paused. "What's Prox?"

"It's the name of the town that Saturos and Menardi are from," Isaac replied, slightly annoyed at the interruption, but still glad Jenna was being so quiet with no malice behind the silence. "It's at the edge of the world. Most maps don't even have it marked because it's so far into the northern reaches. You have to go during the summer or the glaciers–"

"What about mom and dad?" Jenna interrupted again. Details about location were irrelevant.

Isaac was slightly more annoyed than before, but didn't let it show. He continued, "Right, Lily and Brian had to stay in Prox. They're still hostages," but before Isaac could get any farther Jenna interrupted again.

"But _you're_ here," she said reasonably.

Isaac took a deep breath. Agitating her while she was calm could not be a good idea. No matter how fun it was beginning to sound. "I'm getting to that, stop interrupting." Jenna nodded agreeably at his request. "The deal was that if I go with Saturos and Menardi to light the lighthouses, then we can all go back to Vale. They needed a Venus adept for the Venus lighthouse."

"But, Dad and Kyle–" Jenna began.

"–Are old and less likely to condone the sort of behavior Saturos and Menardi exhibit," Isaac finished. Jenna's mouth formed a small 'O' of understanding.

"Is there any way I can help?" Jenna asked. Isaac was surprised at this request, but shook his head anyway.

"Unless you know of a Jupiter adept, not really. Menardi and some of the other Proxians could use _aura_, though. Practice your psynergy until you can use it, too, and help Kraden keep up." Isaac smiled encouragingly.

Jenna nodded, content with the answer.

A short while later Isaac had returned to his space against the wall. He was trying to figure out how to comfortably wear the ridiculously long, yellow scarf. Jenna had spent the last half-hour staring at the ceiling thoughtfully, so it startled Isaac when she suddenly spoke, "Isaac?" _Thunk_.

He pretended to not have just hit his head on the wall in surprise and looked at Jenna to be sure she had actually spoken. She was giggling at him. "Yes?" he replied, a bit sullenly.

"Why do you need to light the lighthouses at all?" she asked.

He thought back to Prox. There was some impending doom…oh what was it… The answer came to him a moment later, and he felt silly for having forgotten it at all. "The world is eroding. It's because of the seal on alchemy. Kraden probably mentioned it to you."

Jenna nodded. Kraden had babbled on about pretty much anything he knew related to alchemy (not that they had begun to understand most of it until recently, anyway) to the three teens. He had lived in Vale long before any of them had been born, though he had only recently become their teacher. "Then why is that bushy-browed blue guy with you?" Jenna demanded. Alex had creeped her out from the start. She had never even _heard_ of a type of psynergy to make one warp. The fact he was a Mercury adept, the opposing element to Mars' fiery psynergy, could only add to her general dislike of the man.

"Alex?" Isaac replied. "He wants to revive alchemy, too. He's our key to get into the Mercury lighthouse, our first stop. He's from Imil, originally, er…," Isaac paused, unsure if he should mention Alex's frozen stumble into Prox. Alex did not usually take well to his past being mentioned, so Isaac chose not to mention the frozen stumble. "The same town as the Great Healer in Vale used to live in."

Jenna nodded in understanding, not bothering to question Isaac's unnecessary pause. She chalked it up to Isaac just trying to remember who had been from Imil, after all, he hadn't seen home in three years. The earlier steal-and-run at the temple did not count due to the fact that Isaac hadn't even left the inn.

"One last question," Jenna added after a short pause. "What were Sater-Saturos and Mener- Mana- er…," she fumbled for the names awkwardly.

"Saturos and Menardi," clarified Isaac.

"Menardi-right, what were those two _doing_ to be near the river, anyway?" Jenna amended.

Isaac froze. He had been fumbling with the scarf a few moments before, trying to find a comfortable way to wear it, but he stopped. There was no way he could tell Jenna that it was all Saturos and Menardi's raiding party setting off a trap that started the storm… Isaac wasn't even supposed to know that.

Jenna was beginning to get curious at his hesitance. If Isaac waited much longer she would get frustrated, and then it would be impossible to convince her not to turn on Saturos and Menardi again. He gave in, "You know how they're getting the elemental stars to save the world and all, right?" Jenna nodded. She was confused, but allowed him to continue. "Well, er…see, their raiding party set off this trap…" Jenna gasped, her hands rushed to cover her mouth. It was Isaac's turn to be confused now. "Jenna? What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I heard Felix talking in his sleep once… He was saying something about a trap. The storm was a trap. I asked him about it, but he said he didn't know anything. He kept repeating it, though. And when we were in the sanctum there was this trap that set off something that made the room below start getting charged with lightning… That was the trap, wasn't it?"

Isaac looked away and nodded grimly.

Jenna's eyes started to gloss over with tears. "All this time I just thought it was bad luck… It was a trap. Because the self-proclaimed saviors of the world were so concerned with the greater good they didn't stop to think about traps guarding some overrated marbles in an ancient sanctum."

"Aww, Jenna…don't cry–" Isaac tried, but it was too late. She was already sobbing, her eyes were overflowing with tears.

"If they didn't save you then you and Mom and Dad and Kyle would all be dead but if they hadn't been there nothing would have happened!" she gushed. Every few syllables were cut off by loud, choking sobs.

"It's like some twisted paradox…" Isaac said quietly.

"But worse!" Jenna insisted, "Because now Garet and Felix think I'm hostage. They might try to fight Saturos and Menardi… And then they'll want us to go, too…"

Isaac nodded sadly. It was true. Nothing so far had gone according to plan. The party only had three out of four elemental stars, they were at least a day or two behind Saturos' strict travel schedule, and now their hostage was on their side, but so depressed that she could easily be up all night crying. It was almost guaranteed that the group could not make it far tomorrow.

---

Menardi was the one to wake the two Valeans the following morning. Menardi was already scolding Isaac for falling asleep with a hostage in the room. Jenna was quiet and cooperative, though, unlike yesterday, so the scolding was cut short in favor of keeping a watchful eye on her.

Neither Isaac, nor Jenna had slept well at all. Terrible sleeping conditions aside, Jenna's crying had kept them both up until only a few hours before dawn. They were attempting to function on an estimated four hours of sleep.

When they got outside the two Valeans found Kraden and Saturos already waiting. Alex had already left, presumably to scout ahead. Menardi stayed in to pay the breakfast bill, but urged Jenna and Isaac to go on and catch up with the others.

The two pushed their way through an unusually crowded street where several angered townspeople were frantically running about, shouting about lost and stolen items, drawing attention to the area. The pair was attempting to reach the area where they had just seen Saturos and Kraden. They were gone. Saturos had already left without them. _Just like him, the bastard,_ Isaac thought angrily. He would be lucky if they caught up without being yelled at for an escape attempt.

Jenna suddenly tugged Isaac's sleeve and pointed to the gates. Saturos was waiting impatiently. Whether he was waiting for the caravans blocking the gates to move, or just for Isaac to catch up, neither could tell. It was probably safer not to wait and find out. The Valean pair jogged over to Kraden and Saturos just as the caravans began to leave.

There was a short blond boy, much younger than anyone in the Proxians' party if his height was anything to go by, who appeared to be on the verge of tears. He was mumbling something about losing a rod. If Isaac had been able to see the boy's suspiciously violet eyes, then he might have stopped to question his abnormality. Adepts often have distinct hair and eye colors to mark them as _different_, adding to the strangeness of psynergy.

It was only Ivan's height and complete refusal to look away from Hammet's caravan as it faded into the distance that saved him from being the Proxians' next hostage.

---

A/N: Er, so I almost decided to have Ivan join the Proxians, instead of Sheba, but then I remembered the deserts kind of kill that…


	6. Enter the Blond Midget

I realized I have no idea what the difference between djinn & djinni is. I _think_ djinni is the singular. If I'm wrong don't hesitate to point it out.

**Warnings:** Flint and Sap are particularly talkative.**  
Pairings:** Felix/Isaac as always, and a line or two that can be interpreted as Garet/Ivan. Seriously, though, blink and you might miss it.**  
Rating:** T for very minor language.**  
Notes:** Flint proves Djinni can talk in the beginning of the game, but they don't talk any more than that throughout the game. That's changing now. Also, Sap just magically followed Flint, because there is not going to be a chapter where everyone decides to return to Vault when Ivan gets reveal just so they can pick Sap up.

---

_Enter the Blond Midget_

_---  
_

"The world is ours to save or destroy. Our inaction may bring about its destruction," the Great Healer warned. His words were an echo of what the Wise One was telling him. "We cannot hope for salvation. We must save ourselves. Acquiring the elemental stars is your fate alone," the Great Healer continued. His statement was directed at the two young boys in the center of the sanctuary.

The mayor stepped forward in surprise and outrage. "Garet is only a child! You cannot _possibly_ expect–"

"The Wise One has spoken!" The Great Healer shouted, cutting off the mayor's protest. "They are to make their own decision."

"Hell of a choice, eh Garet?" Felix said, smiling. No matter what anyone said, _his_ decision was already made.

Garet turned to Felix expectantly. "I'm with you whatever you decide." Which was, of course, Garet-speak for 'I'm not sure what to do! You decide.'

Felix nodded, before carefully replying, "I'll do my best to save the world, but, to be honest, I just want to bring Isaac and Jenna back."

There was a choked sob from the small crowd behind the two boys. Garet jumped in surprise, and Felix cringed guiltily. The 'I' word! Felix had said the 'I' word in front of Dora!

The pair turned to see Dora, as expected, bawling her eyes out. She was crying like there was no tomorrow, which, at this rate, there might not be. What was truly surprising though, is that her tears were tears of joy. Dora was smiling like she hadn't smiled in years.

"Thank you Felix, It's so kind of you to promise to bring him back. I'm just happy to know I-Isaac's alive," said Dora.

This was all clearly an indication that the Wise One's prediction was off. Clearly the end of the world was already here. Next thing you know Dora would be saying the 'K' word, too.

---

Felix and Garet entered Vault. The place was bustling with activity uncharacteristic of the small town. A tiny brown creature, no more than a foot tall, with large bulbous blue eyes (_Bright blue like Isaac's eyes,_ Felix had thought) was trailing along behind them. It walked in a sort of comical waddling march.

The party halted. Or rather, Felix halted and Garet and the brown creature that called itself a 'djinni' followed suit. "Flint," Felix commanded, "look around town. Try to find any information you can about mysterious travelers."

"Yes, sir," the creature (apparently named Flint) replied in a gravelly voice. Garet might have laughed at its salute (for it used its tail, having no arms to do a proper salute), if Flint had not looked so serious. The djinni disappeared into the crowd almost instantly.

Garet eyed Felix's short sword with distaste. "First order of business: new equipment." Felix nodded and the two plunged into the crowded streets to find the nearest weapon shop.

---

After shopping for a bit Felix had insisted they go to the inn for a bit of food. They rented a two-bed room, too. There was a bit of confusion over how Flint was to find them, because no meeting place had been arranged, but Felix was first to point out that the inn was the most reasonable place to look.

Flint returned a few minutes after the Valeans had sat down at the inn table. The djinni had brought a friend (though Venus only knows where those things come from!) and both djinn jumped onto the table to report the information Flint had gathered. The innkeeper was not pleased.

"A lady outside mentioned some scaly foreigners heading North-East. Everyone else in town seemed concerned with missing items and a boy at the mayor's house with strange powers. I suspect psynergy, sirs," Flint said.

Felix nodded. "Very good, Flint. Who is this?" he gestured at the second djinni. It was slightly shorter than Flint and had a much longer tail.

"I'm Sap, sirs. I hopes to joins your quest. We djinns likes to stick togethers," the shorter djinni replied.

Garet began coughing. Felix couldn't be sure if he was choking on something, or if he was just covering his laughter. He postulated both were fairly likely. "Very good, you may join us," Felix said in an official voice.

A waitress made her way to the table the Valeans were sitting at and glared disapprovingly down at the djinn. "The innkeepa' humbly requests ya keep ya dirty animals off tha table, kind sirs," she warned in a high nasally voice. She waited until the djinn sat on the arms of a nearby chair before continuing, "Can I get ya anythin' for ya filthy animals, sirs?"

Felix opened his mouth to respond with an order, when he realized he had no idea what djinni were supposed to eat. He turned to Garet who merely shrugged in confusion. "Could you hold on, ma'am?" Felix requested, and without waiting for confirmation he turned to the djinn.

"No worries, sirs. We's Venus djinn, we's jus' takes nutrients from the earths," said Sap.

Felix nodded. "Right, then. Check please."

The waitress smiled. "That'll be five gold, sirs." The boys paid up and went upstairs, djinn in tow.

---

"So what do we do? We only know they went Northeast! That's the only way Isaac, Jenna, and the kidnappers can even go!" Garet said mournfully.

Sap hopped to get their attention. "Whats we needs, sirs, is a windy djinni. They's good trackers, sirs."

Flint hopped in a mockery of a nod. "Sirs," it began thoughtfully, "Jupiter djinni are prone to listening better to Jupiter adepts. They won't like a Venus leader."

Garet raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But how does that hel–"

"What element was that boy with strange powers?" Felix asked, completely ignoring Garet.

"Without directly seeing him perform psynergy we cannot be sure," replied Flint dutifully.

Felix nodded thoughtfully. "Very good. You've worked hard today, rest while we go see this adept."

"Thank yous, sirs," Sap replied. Both djinn hopped from the nightstand they had been sitting on to the nearest lumpy inn bed to rest a while.

---

A bit of directional aid from various random townsfolk led Felix and Garet to the mayor's house. There was no mistaking it for anything but a mayor's house. It sat on a ledge at the far end of town.

When they knocked a young boy, much shorter than either of the Valeans, stepped outside. He was so short compared to them that all they could really see was his blond hair. Circles of psyenergy surrounded him, rising and fading. Felix jumped as his mind was poked at by invisible fingers.

"Yes. I…I am the boy who possesses strange powers. You have them, too, don't you?" The boy said, replying to Felix's thoughts. The boy used his psynergy again. "So…this power, it is called 'psynergy'? I had no idea!" He mind read one last time before speaking again. "Oh! I had not realized you could feel my power, I apologize. I did not know my _mind read_ ability was so uncomfortable."

Felix shook his head to clear the feeling. "It's alright. We came here wondering if we could possibly ask for your aid."

The boy hesitated before responding, "I am sorry. I-I feel I can trust you with this. You see, Master Hammet's rod was stolen, and it is all my fault. I am in need of assistance myself."

"We will gladly help you," Felix said reassuringly.

The boy smiled uneasily back. "Thank you, but I couldn't ask – I mean, I need to catch up with Master Hammet, I would be unable to repay you…"

Garet sighed unhappily and turned to leave, but Felix stopped him, saying, "That's quite alright. We would be happy to assist you anyway."

The boy immediately perked up. "Oh, thank you!" he said. When he looked up like that, they could easily see his violet eyes. Only in adepts could one see such an unusual eye-color, and it was the same shining purple that the Jupiter star had been. There was no doubt about it, this was the kid they needed. "My name is Ivan, and you are…?" he used _mind read_ again. "Pleased to meet you, Felix and Garet!"

Ivan held out a hand to Felix, who mistook the gesture for a handshake. Needless to say he was surprised when suddenly he heard Garet's voice in his head saying _Gah! Stop reading my mind Ivan, this feels so gross!_

Felix laughed and released Ivan's hand. "It worked!" Ivan cried excitedly. "By holding your hand, you can also read the minds of people."

Garet grumbled and muttered a barely audible, "Not fair." Felix smirked at him.

"We can all read the minds of the townspeople to find the thief," Ivan suggested.

---

"_This_ is your Jupiter adept, sirs?" Flint said skeptically. He hopped around Ivan to get a better look.

Felix sighed exasperatedly. "No, he is _not_ our Jupiter adept. We're just helping the poor kid out, he has other things to do."

"I'm fourteen," Ivan offered. He looked young, but he wasn't _that_ small was he?

Sap hopped after Flint. "I still says he's pansy, sirs."

Felix rolled his eyes at the djinn's antics. Both were still hopping circles around Ivan. Garet was laughing from the other bed. Felix ignored him. "Did either of you hear anything about suspicious-looking possible thieves?"

Flint stopped hopping, slowing to his waddle-march to better think. Sap continued hopping, and periodically bounced off of Flint's head. "Sirs! There were somes suspicious humanly things ins the inn room next tos ours," Sap replied.

Ivan gasped and attempted to make a break for the door, but only managed to trip over Flint. "Sirs? Is yous okey?" Sap asked, concernedly (perhaps concerningly) hopping on Ivan's lower back.

---

"You two stay right here. We don't want to fight these guys, just corner them. It is your duty to make sure they don't make a break for the door," Felix ordered. Sap and Flint saluted with their jagged tails. Ivan exhibited more self-control than Garet and saluted back at the djinn. Garet just giggled.

The suspicious men were on the far side of the room, attempting to stay as far away from Ivan as possible. They were much faster than the young Jupiter adept, as well as Felix and Garet, and only narrowly avoided getting caught when they tried to break past the djinn.

A change of plans was in order. The trio regrouped by the djinn. "We can't catch them, they're too fast!" said Garet.

"Sirs! Might I suggest a splits?" Sap replied.

Felix nodded. "Of course. Ivan, you go left, Garet you on the right, and I'll try to herd one of the men toward you."

The second plan was a success. It was no trouble at all to catch one of the men when Felix chased him toward Garet. Ivan followed, and a quick _mind read_ proved them to be the culprits, as well as revealing the hiding place of all the stolen goods.

The trio grabbed their faithful djinn and ran back outside the inn to the hole in the roof the loot was in.

Garet stepped forward first. He paused to concentrate, and after a few moments, conjured a giant glowing and floating hand that proceeded to push the giant crate to the side to reveal a doorway.

"Good job, Garet, how did you know there was a doorway there?" Felix commented.

"Er…natural genius," replied Garet. He figured it made more sense to go with Felix's idea that finding the door was intentional, as opposed to a feeble attempt to impress Ivan. Ivan bowed and thanked Garet before rushing past both Valeans into the newly-revealed room.

Felix and Garet followed their eager friend to find a man bound and gagged on the floor. Ivan pulled a short sword from his belt and cut the ropes, the man removed the gag on his own. "I was fixing the roof when I saw this area and there was this _huge_ crate and next thing I know _WHAM_ I'm out cold, and then I woke up in here," the man gushed.

Sap appeared on Felix's left shoulder. "Sirs, I thinks this man mights have been hitsed too hard."

"So you've found our stash, eh?" A voice from behind called. Flint hopped up and whacked the bandit in the face with its tail to give Felix and friends time to regroup.

The apparent leader smacked at Flint, only succeeding in hitting himself. Flint hopped back to Felix's side as the bandit spoke, "You're pretty persistent for one of Hammet's whelps."

"Tch yeah, why does some stupid stick matter to you so much anyway? You could have just bought a new one," the left bandit added.

The right bandit spoke in a high reedy voice, a contrast to his companions, "Hammet's already caught by a bunch of bandits way worse than us."

"What?" Ivan pointed his short sword at the right bandit.

The bandits' leader replied, "I heard Hammet went to Lunpa after the eruption."

The man that had been tied up jumped in surprise. "Lunpa?" said he, "A man with Hammet's wealth shouldn't go anywhere _near_ Lunpa!"

"What's wrong with Lunpa?" Garet asked cautiously.

"Oh, nothing really. Lunpa was the name of the founder. He was once known as the noble thief, his son kept up the family tradition, too. A bunch of real nice guys, they were. But Dodonpa, Lunpa's grandson, he's a little different…" the left thief trailed off.

The right thief smirked. "Dodonpa's an evil thief. No morals at all – he's truly vicious."

"Compared to a man like that, we're pretty harmless. So whaddya say, are you gonna keep quiet?" Their leader said.

"Hell no. Bring it on," Felix replied, grinning.

"Looks like we'll have to keep you quiet ourselves, then. Boys, get 'em," the bandit leader demanded.

Both side thieves rushed at Felix, who held them off with the help of his shiny new long sword, and two very energetic djinn. Garet rushed at the leader with his axe, while Ivan began concentrating on his whirlwind psynergy. The bandits never stood a chance.

---

"So I guess this is goodbye?" Garet said. Ivan nodded mournfully. Felix looked off into the distant horizon. The sky was already beginning to dim. They had decided to not even bother with the inn room.

"We'll see each other again," Ivan said optimistically. "I can feel it."

Sap reappeared on Felix's shoulder. "Yesh, if a windy djinni master-guy says its, then its must be trues. They's never wrongs."

Ivan laughed at Sap's accent. "I hope you find those people you are looking for. I am sure that Isaac and Jenna will be pleased to see you." He waved before disappearing into the horizon.

"So I suppose that means we're going to chase those scaly freaks, now, right?" Garet said hopefully.

Felix nodded. They set off on a path slightly eastward from the one Ivan had taken.

---

AN: I can't seem to find a consistent or clear djinn height, so I just kind of assume they're about as big as a pikachu. Maybe a little shorter (pikachus generally measure at about 1 foot/12 inches/30 cm for anyone that isn't enough of a dork to know that). For the most part they seem to be really tiny, like palm-size, but that just doesn't suit the story.

There will be many djinn outbursts. I think they might get to be fairly major characters. The two biggest will, of course, be Sap (because I'm already attached to it) and Ember (though we don't get to that one 'til Tolbi). I'm kind of making up djinn facts as I go, like for instance, Venus djinni use photosynthesis. I'll try to include as much information as possible.


	7. Always With You

**Warnings:** Total tearing to shreds of any canon.**  
Pairings:** Felix/Isaac.**  
Rating:** T for language in the A/N.**  
Notes:** …and then canon got _fucked_ and they lived happily ever after…or not. I've always wondered how the Proxians stayed ahead of my party even though there is no way for them to pass the ivy. Also: in Spanish "contigo" means "with you"; I'm not sure if that's what the writers of the game were thinking, but hell, have a side story while you're here.

_---  
_

_Always With You (For A Maximum Of Five Minutes In Person)_

_---_

"Ugh, why won't it burn?" Menardi snarled. She tried another _flare_ on the ivy-covered rock.

Jenna stood beside, her arms folded, watching her captor fail yet again to burn the ivy off so that Isaac could _move_ the stupid rocky-stump-thing away from the entrance. "Look, you've got to use more finesse," Jenna said calmly. She whipped up a nice _flare_ as soon as Menardi's faded. "Aim straight for the ivy."

Saturos rolled his eyes and glared at the girls. "Would you please remove the ivy so that we can make it through the cave? It is almost nightfall, for Iris' sake! We should have reached Bilibin by now," he grumbled.

The ivy continued to do nothing, still unaffected by the flames, except for a bit of charring on the rock. Menardi interrupted Jenna's flare with a strong push to the back of the party. "How's this for finesse? _Pyrocl_-"

A large amount of water suddenly covered Menardi, courtesy of a well-placed _douse_. "Please refrain from drawing attention to the party, Menardi. We do not wish to destroy all surrounding greenery," said Alex. He took a few steps closer to the ivy, gently urging Jenna to the back of the party as he did so. "Perhaps a different tactic…" mused Alex quietly. A miniature raincloud appeared over the ivy and drenched the entire ledge that the rock sat on.

The ivy remained unaffected. "_Frost_," Alex mumbled. A pillar of ice grew up around the ivy. Again, no effect. The ivy looked just as green and lush as ever.

Another _flare_ from Saturos removed all traces of the Mercury adept's psynergy. "So what do we do now?" he demanded angrily.

"We ask the Venus adept," Alex replied simply. "Isaac!"

Isaac carefully made his way to the front of the party, gently pushing Jenna farther back toward Kraden as he did so. "Yes?"

Saturos pointed at the ivy. "Figure out what is wrong with it," he said.

Isaac nodded obediently. He had to lean over the gap between the ledge with the party and the ledge with the ivy to reach it, and nearly fell, but with much effort he managed to reach out to the ivy. The leaves were unmovable. They were supple, green, and completely resistant to all efforts to pull one off. Isaac pulled the shortsword from his belt and tried to cut one off to better examine, but the plant actually chipped the blade rather than be cut.

"Try using your psynergy," suggested a voice from behind - Kraden's. The old man had moved to the front as well, completely reversing the party's original order. "Pour your will into your psynergy, try to persuade the ivy to part with a leaf," the old man instructed.

Isaac nodded and did as he was told. Soft transluscent light-brown, almost yellow, orbs of psynergy flowed from his fingertips and into the plant. Finally Isaac pulled back, clutching a single leaf of ivy in his hands.

"Now concentrate on it, try to examine its very composition," the old scholar instructed. Isaac nodded and began to glow the signature yellow-ish brown color of his psynergy.

"Earth," Isaac said simply. The glow of his psynergy ebbed away, back into Weyard, causing the nearby grass to look lusher than ever. The rest of the party looked at him curiously, waiting for some sort of elaboration on the topic. "It's made entirely of earth psynergy. Since earth and fire share a symbiotic relationship, and since it doesn't even react with water all that much we're going to need wind."

Kraden nodded sagely. He was proud that Isaac knew all of this without needing to be told. His education in psynergy would need to continue if there was any hope of entering Venus lighthouse, but as of yet, the only important thing was the basics.

The Proxians and Alex pondered the problem. "Contigo," They said at once. Everyone turned to Alex expectantly., though Isaac and Jenna merely did so out of confusion.

"Contigo?" Jenna asked skeptically.

Alex nodded. "Contigo," he replied. His psynergetic molecules scattered and reformed on the opposite river bank.

"Alex," Saturos said in a warning tone, "We can't cross the water."

"My apologies." A wave of his hand caused the water to change its course. Rather than simply flowing downstream, the water arced over the muddy river bed. The entire party, sans Alex, had to walk around the sloping path from Goma Cave's entrance to the arc of shining water that would have put the goddess of rainbows to shame.

Jenna sighed exasperatedly as they trudged toward the water. "Are we camping out again?"

Kraden brightened up and looked to the Proxians only a few steps in front of him. "You wouldn't mind terribly, would you?"

Neither Proxian responded. They did mind. They minded a lot. This set back the schedule again, and at this rate they could not possibly get back to Prox before it froze over again.

Jenna stopped at the edge of the arc of water. "I don't trust it," she said. Both Proxians walked around her, ignoring any fear she held. Kraden patted her on the back encouragingly as he passed, and Isaac, bringing up the rear, had to drag her to get her to go under the arc.

All three fire adepts had immediately and visibly relaxed upon reaching the other side, though none of them would admit it.

Alex dropped the water back onto its normal course, almost before Isaac had taken his last step onto dry land. Isaac's gaze lingered on the river momentarily. It was a clash between his previous experiences with rivers and just how gorgeous that one had been above him. "How did you do that?" he asked cautiously.

"Element manipulation," Alex replied, and was gone, leaving only a few scattered orbs of psynergy floating away as any indication he had ever been there.

---

The Proxians sat on one side of the fire conversing about what their next move should be. Should they risk someone seeing smoke to douse the fire, or should they let it go and keep trying to schedule the journey?

Jenna, Kraden, and Isaac were on the opposite side, discussing elemental manipulation.

"Psynergy is mostly based on elemental manipulation, for example, Jenna takes the combustable molecules in the air and her target to make her _flare_ ability have an effect, while Isaac moves the land for _quake_. All Alex did was directly manipulate the water into arcing above the river bed," Kraden explained.

Isaac nodded, while Jenna barely kept up.

"Look at it this way: earlier Jenna told Menardi to use 'finesse' against the ivy, and aimed it more directly at the ivy. This shows she was manipulating her element more, while Menardi merely used more power."

"A _lot_ more power," Isaac mumbled.

Jenna spun in her seat. "What was that?" she demanded angrily.

"Nothing, nothing," Isaac replied innocently.

The group sat in an awkward silence for a few moments, the only sounds being the soft crackle of the fire and their captors' (allies'?) hushed voices. Jenna was the first to speak again, "What's taking Alex so long?"

"He has to search all of Contigo for a Jupiter adept, he may be a while," replied the scholar.

"Where is Contigo?" Isaac asked.

Kraden paused for a brief moment to recollect his knowledge of geography (he was a scholar of alchemy, after all, geography was no big concern in most cases). "Atteka," he said at last. "It is the place where the famous merchant Hammet began his career, or supposedly, anyway. No one has ever been able to get the man to confirm it.

"Contigo is near where a city was said to have torn itself from Weyard itself. Supposedly that is what the moon is. There is a quite interesting legend, too, if you care to hear of it...."

---

Felix and Garet followed their two little Venus djinn away from the setting sun. According to Flint they could probably make it to Goma Cave by morning, but neither boy wanted to walk all night. In retrospect, perhaps they should have stayed the night at the inn, Garet thought miserably, though Felix would absolutely refuse to hear of that. Jenna and Isaac were still captive, after all, and the sooner they got home, the better.

They chose a small area on the outskirts of the forest that lead up to Goma Cave and left the djinn to keep watch.

By sunrise Sap was practically ready to burst with excitement for the new day. He still had not been able to fight any of the weak enemies in the wild, and the prospect of attacking two strong, scaly warriors from the far North sounded incredibly fun. Flint was more reserved and tried to lead his two charges up to Goma Cave without annoying them into oblivion.

It was well past noon before the small party reached the entrance to Goma.

---

_Contigo was named for a legend. It began, like many others, with a romance. A young maiden, whose name has been long forgotten, and her fiance, a dashing young man, were ready to be married. The people of Anemos were, like they always have been, at war with the not-so-far-off Shaman village. _

_The Shaman village prided itself on strength, honor, and tradition, and had anyone bothered to even attempt to forget old grudges, they may have noticed that the only difference between the two peoples was that the people of Anemos preferred psynergy, honor, and tradition. Or perhaps it was their common love of honor and tradition that really dragged out the war, for the cause had been long forgotten. It was known that somewhere along the line there had been the accidental death of a child, but at this point no one could recall anything except that there had been vengeance, and vengeance, and vengeance continuing._

_The young couple had been happy together, they were both a lovely pair. The maiden and her striking lavender hair, with her lover and his beautiful dirty blond locks. Nothing had been able to seperate them until tradition and honor demanded that the young man avenge his father who had recently died in the war. _

_The maiden was upset at her lover's desire to fight, and being of no small amount of power herself, requested that she be allowed to go as well. Her lover, of course, in fear that he would be unable to protect her, refused to allow her to join him. _

_Before he left, though, the maiden vowed that they would live in peace upon his return. She began preparing and researching so that she could take their home into the sky. Her project quickly drew the attention of the others in her tribe, and soon all of the Anemos people were ready to leave. _

_The news of her lover's death reached the maiden too soon. She decided that to best be with him she would fly into the heavens above, where she was sure he would be waiting. The maiden set off the string of psynergy and used all of her strength to lift the people of Anemos into the sky. _

_Her last words were "At last, I can be with you."_

_A few townsfolk too prideful, or too fearful to leave their home had stayed behind and named their new town after the two lovers, seperated too soon, and the last words of the maiden, who had been misinformed. Her lover, already grief-stricken by the news had jumped into the sea and swore to return to her in the afterlife._

---

The Proxian party was laying low for the moment. Alex had still not returned from his visit to Contigo, and it was too risky to venture out where people might see them. Better to let Felix and Garet assume that the Proxians were hopelessly far ahead of them.

Isaac sneaked out a little past noon to get some water from the river nearby.

---

Felix ran forward as they reached their destination. It could only be a matter of time before they fell hopelessly behind Isaac, Jenna, and Kraden. He was surprised to see Isaac basking in the sun across the river. Felix put up a hand to hold Garet and the djinn back and moved forward almost silently.

Isaac sat up as Felix reached the opposite bank of the river, as if sensing him. No words were exchanged, not that it would have been reasonable to risk the Proxians hearing a shouted conversation over the roar of the river anyway. Isaac changed position so that he was on his hands and knees and pushed his will into the earth below him.

The result was an awkward half-tremor that left several large, wet rocks with conveniently flat surfaces for walking jutting out of the water. The rocks only reached three-quarters of the way to the opposite bank, far more than Isaac was willing to risk jumping. Felix, on the other hand, was unwilling to watch Isaac even jump the short gap between the carefully-close first few.

Garet stayed back with the djinn, perceiving that this was a private moment. "Sirs, I really don't thinks you shoulds let Sirs Felix go tos the enemy by hisself," Sap attempted to whisper. Flint smacked him on the back of the head with his tail.

The rocks were slippery-almost as bad as the pedastals in Sol Sanctum had been. The Sanctum, and home, seemed so far off now. _How many days has it really been? _Felix thought, _it feels like weeks._

Isaac stopped on the last rock, taking care to not fall off and look like an idiot by washing downstream again. There wouldn't be any Proxians waiting to save him this time, and it had been too long since he actually swam.

"It's been a while since we last talked," said Felix, at last.

Isaac smiled. That was an understatement. "Only a few years," he replied smoothly. "Sorry about all of that trouble back at the Sanctum! Jenna is alright, even though she doesn't get along with Menardi." Felix nodded. That sounded like his sister. Fear was not likely to stop her from being a smartass. "Did the Elders send you?"

Felix shook his head. "Do you remember those legends about the Wise One?" Isaac paused to think before nodding. The Great Healer had been rather firm about the presence of the Wise One. "That's who-or what, sent us. It gave us a choice."

Isaac's knees were beginning to get incredibly soaked. He nodded thoughtfully at Felix's words.

"He said if you light the beacons that the world will end," Felix added casually. They could have been discussing the weather (which was _lovely, _ by the way) for all that their tones of voice expressed, as opposed to two best friends being reunited over trying to save the world.

Isaac shook his head vigorously. "No, it_ will _end if we don't light them, though. We have to! The world is falling apart!"

"Isaac?" A far-off voice called. "Isaac!" It was Jenna. Isaac scrambled back off of the platforms, shouting apologies as he did so. If Jenna saw Felix...well, after the reunion there would be too much confusion, and Jenna would try to travel together, but Menardi would just as soon kill Felix and Garet as look at them.

Felix watched his friend run again. It was not a pleasant feeling.

A few moments later Garet deemed it safe to approach his travelling companion. "Are you okay?" he asked concernedly.

Felix did not respond immediately. He seemed to be slowly pulling himself out of a stupor. "Garet, what if we're on the wrong side of this quest?"

"What?" replied Garet."On the wrong side? What's that supposed to mean?"

Flint smacked Felix's ankles lightly with his tail. "Sirs, it's time to get a move on. We can beat them to the Mercury lighthouse to better plan out a way to stop them from lighting the beacon," the djinni instructed. Sap hopped along behind, a little disappointed that the enemy had not been fought.

---

AN: The Contigo story will come up here and there--mostly just brief mentions of it. Please consider it as an 'I'm so sorry!' for leaving the story to fend for itself for too long. Up next is Forge. It's kinda obvious that the story's completely broken off from canon by now...I'm really dying to write about Mercury lighthouse. If no one has any objections I may skip from Bilibin to Imil chapter after next (next is a bit of Goma cave plus intro to Bilibin). It's not like anything big happens there anyway.


	8. Misery Loves Company

_Updates for this chapter largely consist of getting the narrative to stay in the past tense after the first section. (My god, how did I let this slip by?) _

I've had half of this written for weeks. Sorry for taking so long. /fail

**Warnings:** Bad foreshadowing.**  
Pairing(s):** Blink-and-you'll-miss-it hints of Garet/Ivan. Slight nod to Isaac/Ivan.**  
Rating:** G. Probably.**  
Notes:** Much skipping around. Mostly filler.

---

_Misery Loves Company; Company Provides an Outlet for Misery's Friend Wrath._

---

Inside the damp and short, but winding Goma Cave stand three adepts and two djinn. The Venus adept, the leader of the party, is healing the physically weaker Jupiter adept, while the Mars adept prepares a small fire to keep them warm as they rest nearby.

Somewhere in an infinitely distant parallel universe this had occurred before. In the same place and time a different Venus adept had healed this Jupiter adept using the same psynergy, though with greater skill, and a different romance had begun to blossom.

Here, though, Felix uses his _cure_ ability on Ivan, while entirely different thoughts run through their heads. Ivan's intuition tells him that something about this scene is _wrong_. Somewhere along the line, someone had pushed the threads of fate a little too far, and something _not meant to be_ had occurred.

The same threads of fate gently push these thoughts out of his mind so that nothing is discovered before its time. As payment, because nothing is without a price, they replace the thought with a stream of psynergy-silent telepathy, allowing a glimpse of Felix's thoughts without the messy getting noticed that naturally comes with using Ivan's _mind read_ ability.

Felix's thoughts are largely a swirl of confusion; Ivan is used to hearing only the foremost thoughts on a person's mind, and this burst of telepathy is overloading him with every single thing running through Felix's mind. He sees a glimpse of a memory of Felix's meeting with Isaac several hours previous to Ivan's own arrival, which had ended with him clearing the ivy for Felix and Garet.

Ivan finally manages to catch the repeating stream of "Are we on the wrong side of this quest?" at the forefront of Felix's mind. "No," he replies aloud.

The flow of soft orange-brown baubles of psynergy cease as Ivan's wounds closed. Felix stops focusing on his companion's arm (the scar shall heal in a few days) to look at him in confusion. "What?"

"They kidnapped your sister and your…" Ivan pauses, at a loss for what exactly Isaac is to Felix, the burst of telepathy had only confused the issue more (he cannot figure out what Isaac is to Felix if Felix does not know, himself) he finishes with: "Isaac." Ivan hesitates again, unsure if he has said too much, then continues a bit meekly, "You can't be on the wrong side of this quest."

Felix's eyes narrow in suspicion, but he is not the sort to start a debate over what the perhaps-over-informed Jupiter adept has to say, so he brushes the comment off and walks to Garet's invitingly warm fire.

---

Isaac paced back and forth, his expression wrought with confusion and impatience; he moved at no less than double Kraden's usual speed. Jenna had had to run to keep up on the way back from the river, and Isaac had not spoken except to mutter the name of whatever psynergy he had used to raise and remove those platforms he had jumped away from. Isaac had seemed suspiciously hurried as he rushed Jenna back to camp, but she did not question it; he had probably just not wanted the Proxians to assume he had been trying to escape.

Though, Iris-only-knew what the hell he had actually been doing on the platforms. Jenna did not think he would leave her alone with the Proxians; if for no other reason than to not betray Garet and Felix's trust again by abandoning her to the same near-sociopathic freaks who had kidnapped her, but she could not imagine any reason for him to be out on the river.

The Proxians took no notice of their captives' absence, nor of the impatient and worried looks on the Valeans' faces. Saturos and Menardi seemed quite content to keep to themselves while they waited for Alex.

It was determined by everyone as a silent agreement that they would not have time to spend the night in Bilibin, even if Alex had to teleport them across the entirety of Goma Cave, which seemed like the likely solution to their problem.

On the other hand, if Alex did not return soon, it would not matter; Felix and Garet could arrive at the lighthouse long before the Proxians.

---

The Mars djinni stared the party down. A large Venus djinni stood near the Venus adept; a tall, dark-haired youth with an aura meant to _protect_. Forge jumped back, then charged the group. There could be nothing gained from allying itself with weaklings.

It was a blessing for the party that the Mars djinni did not notice Sap; Forge conceded defeat when its life was drained by the enthusiastic djinni.

---

A resounding splash, like the sound of something heavy hitting the river, reached the Proxians and their hostages. The others must have opened a path. Tendrils of fear seemed to wrap around Saturos and Menardi's insides. _If the others reach the lighthouse too soon_ – then, their instincts and pride as warriors of Prox kicked in; if the other group reached the lighthouse first, it just meant that they would have to be eliminated.

"That's Garet's psynergy!" Jenna exclaimed, standing up. The Proxians' mood had only deteriorated from what it had been before, and an outright declaration confirming their fears did not help matters.

"Don't get too excited. We don't have Alex; we cannot cross the river," Saturos pointed out grimly.

Isaac shook his head and stands as well. "I think I can get us across," he said. Jenna was surprised that he planned to reveal his new ability to their captors, but said nothing.

---

The new djinni refused to speak; a fact that annoyed Garet to no end. Flint was finally forced to explain that a djinni did not speak the human tongue unless its leader was nearby. Garet seemed to suddenly notice the difference in size between Flint and the other djinn.

The party continued through Goma Cave without further incident.

---

Alex appeared just as the Proxians and their hostages approached a large stump blocking further passage through Goma Cave. They _could_ have turned around and taken the long way, but none of them were sure exactly how far away the Valeans were, with the exception of Jenna who could sense Garet's familiar psynergy signature in the nearby vicinity, and she had no intention of saying that her friends were nearby.

Instead she helped Saturos and Menardi to persuade Alex to teleport the party to the end of Goma Cave. One by one they all arrived outside of Bilibin. Alex was not as exhausted as he could have been, but he was not faring overly well, either.

They left him in Bilibin to catch up later. Alex departed muttering something about his hatred of all toddlers. Isaac could swear he heard something about a "baby whirlwind," but he couldn't be sure, and had found that it was more prudent to just _not ask_ when Alex was in a foul mood.

---

"How is Ivan doing?" Felix asked Garet as they exited Goma Cave, emerging into familiar sunshine and well-lit foreign grass at last. The party's youngest member talked to Garet more than Felix, who was quieter and more intimidating from Ivan's point of view, whereas Garet was oblivious, but outgoing and friendly.

Garet glanced at Ivan, who was beginning to fall behind. Flint had fallen back, as well, acting as a rear guard for the party. Felix glanced at them, as well, then answered his own query, "We'll see how he does next fight."

By the time Bilibin was within view, it was clear that a rest at the inn would be best.

---

"Oh, gods it's cold!" Jenna exclaimed, wading through a shallow creek as the party made its way north. The Proxians frowned at the cool water, but said nothing. Isaac made his way upstream a few paces and drank a bit of the marginally-cleaner water. It was cool and refreshing, as only the sort of fresh water flowing from nearby snow-capped mountains could be.

"Jenna," Kraden said when she reached the center of the creek. "Let us see how good your concentration is. Whip up a nice flare."

She frowned, waving her hand. The flame was a pathetic excuse for one, and could do little more than light a pipe. Forests would laugh in its face rather than cower as they were burnt to ashes. Well. First the forests would make sure the pathetic excuse for a flame had not fallen on a conspicuously large pile of dry leaves. Then the forests would laugh at it.

"Scholar," Saturos interrupted menacingly, "now is not the time." Sunset approached as he urged the two Valeans to follow.

Kraden splashed forward in a motion of uncharacteristic defiance. "Any time is a good time for training," he argued. "If you want Jenna to be of any use it would be wise to let her train when the chance arises."

"She is a hostage, her only use is to stay alive," Menardi growled.

Jenna's eyes narrowed. She sat down as Isaac made his way back downstream to rejoin the rest of the group; once Jenna was thoroughly soaked from the chest down she conjured a bright _serpent fume_, resulting in a loud hissing sound and a lot of steam.

"Very good, Jenna!" Kraden said, clapping enthusiastically. "Your concentration is flawless. How about you two let Isaac and Jenna fight a few of the beasts so fond of attacking our group?"

Saturos sighed exasperatedly, but did not slow down. "We don't have that kind of time," he insisted. Menardi walked after him, and the Valeans soon followed suit.

---

A/N: For anyone who's curious about my tendency to make Alex's teleport ability particularly strenuous and psynergy-consuming, while in-game the ability is only 2pp to teleport 8 people and up to 27 djinn, it's because he doesn't have the lapis. . Also, I think it would be a bit like cheating to let him have infinite teleporty power. It just seems to me like it would be much easier to teleport oneself without incident than others, especially someone like Jenna who would be entirely unfamiliar, and probably uncooperative, and therefore harder to concentrate on.

I dunno. It made sense in my head.


	9. How To Nearly Lose A Life

I realized why I hadn't yet uploaded that last chapter was because _I hadn't finished typing it up_. Yeah, I'm a genius like that.

**Warnings:** Excessive dialog. I also keep forgetting that the whole point of this quest is to save the world.  
**Pairings:** Blink-and-you'll-miss-it sort-of hints of Alex/Mia, but maybe it's just me. The same for Garet/Ivan and Garet/Mia. You're not going to see unless you're looking. Isaac/Felix.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** Saturos and Menardi couldn't care less about learning to sense other types of psynergy. Saturos is reckless. THE LIGHTHOUSE, AT LAST. (Gosh, I'm a lazy bum for taking so long.)

---

_How To Nearly Lose A Life_

_---  
_

"So he tells us about the curse, then decides we're not allowed to go?" Garet fumed. Ivan paced furiously several feet away from him.

"We have to go get your friends anyway, though, right?" Ivan said uncertainly.

Felix sat in contemplative silence for several minutes, planning out the group's next course of action. "Flint," he said at last, "what would our route be after Mercury Lighthouse?"

"To go south, sir. We would pass by Kolima on the way," Flint replied dutifully in its gravelly voice.

"Then we'll stop and do what we can in Kolima on our way back. If what everyone says is true, and the people are really trees, then a few more days' wait shouldn't matter," Felix resolved.

Ivan stopped marching abruptly. "Do you guys sense something?" he asked. Felix and Garet glanced at each other and shook their heads.

"Sirs, Sap is on its way back," Flint said. "Sap may have found something."

A voice echoed up the inn's hallway. Felix opened the door to their inn room, as the inn's patrons scattered to avoid the strange creatures hopping through the inn. "Sirs, sirs, we's found a windy djinni!" Sap called. Forge and a small purple-blue djinn with wings followed Sap mutely.

Felix swung the door open wider, causing the three djinn to nearly collide with it. A woman several feet away shrieked as the wind djinni eagerly fluttered toward Ivan, cooing in delight at finding a Jupiter adept.

"Sirs," Sap said happily, "this windy djinni is Gust."

---

"There was really no need to kick us out just because of the djinn," Garet grumbled as he poked at the fire with a stick. Felix suspected he was probably keeping it going with psynergy more than the wood, but he wouldn't complain as long as it kept them warm.

"At least we got our gold refunded," Felix pointed out reasonably.

"My apologies, sirs," Sap said, looking at the ground pitifully. It would have fidgeted if it had arms.

"It can't be helped," Ivan told it, patting Sap's head consolingly. "We did not know that we would be kicked out." Gust cooed, ruffling its wings discontentedly. "It's not your fault, either," Ivan said, petting it as well.

"Well, at least this way we can get a better start in the morning," Felix commented cheerlessly. He had chosen a spot a good walk north of Bilibin.

---

"By Mars, it's freezing!" Jenna said. She pulled her flimsy brown tunic tighter and wished for trousers like Isaac's.

Isaac stopped walking to rummage through his pack, producing an ugly, tattered cloak a few minutes later. He jogged to catch up and held it out for Jenna. "Here."

She took it gratefully, muttering a sincere "Thanks," and pulling it on over her tunic. It only went to her knees, and while it helped at first, darkness was beginning to descend upon them already, and the temperature around them was beginning to drop.

Alex teleported by to check on them once the Valeans fell asleep. "You'll be walking two more days at this rate. If you can get the others moving faster, you might make it by night fall tomorrow," he estimated. "Careful not to slip on any ice." He still looked too tired to be walking with the rest of the party. There had been some rowdy guests at the inn the night before, but the problem had been taken care of.

---

Ivan shivered and pulled his cloak shut against the wind and cold. "It looked a little less daunting back when we were standing at the edge of the cave, don't you think?" he asked, looking over the frozen expanse of land.

"Put us on standby, sirs. Our power can help keep you warmer," Flint suggested. The three adepts pick up the djinn, allowing their powers to meld.

"Not Gust, sirs," Sap squeaked, hopping to Ivan's side. "He's a windy djinni, too colds!" Ivan nodded and pulled Gust back out of his psynergy flow, absorbing Sap instead. He carried Gust, and finding that doing so helped a bit as well, though not as much as Sap.

Gust cooed and nudged Ivan's arm. Ivan looked up to see that Felix and Garet had already begun moving.

---

Saturos felt that his party was making good time, certainly better than he had expected. Definitely better than days previous. The sun was setting already, but he could see the town of Imil close by. There was no point in camping out again if another hour's walk would get them there.

The glow from the houses looked warm and inviting to the Valeans, though Saturos and Menardi didn't seem to even be aware of the cold. They were both dressed in the same light armor as they had been from the beginning of the quest.

A thought occurred to Jenna. "Do they have a clothing store in Imil?" she asked.

"Of course," Alex replied. Jenna gave a small start, then turned around.

"You could give a little warning before you magically appear!" she replied indignantly. Isaac tried to suppress his laughter.

"You could learn to sense others' psynergy," Alex replied reasonably.

Jenna huffed a little angrily. "I _can_, thank-you-very-much."

"No, you can sense Mars psynergy. You should learn to sense other psynergy as well," he corrected.

"You can do that?" Jenna replied. Alex nodded. "Oh. Will you teach me?"

"I suppose I could," Alex allowed.

Kraden walked a little closer to Alex and Jenna as Alex explained how to sense psynergy of a foreign element to one's own.

They reached Imil just as the innkeeper began to close for the night. He let them stay, insisting that the weather was too cold, and business too slow to go around shutting out travelers. The Valeans were relieved, the Proxians could have cared less. Alex politely thanked the inn keeper and promised that they would take the available rooms while the innkeeper's wife and other guests slept.

---

Felix, Garet, and Ivan camped out somewhere between the cave north of Bilibin and the snowy town of Imil. They huddled, back-to-back and set the djinn out so that they could keep watch for monsters. Most of the northern creatures were not nocturnal, but they had seen a Mauler prowling after the sun had set.

Felix and Garet talked to Flint and Forge and had them arrange a ring of fire around the party. Or, at least, that had been the original plan. A ring of fire was a bit much for the fire djinni without Garet's help, and he was unable to keep up a good flare in his sleep.

The plan dwindled down to Flint growing what he could, mostly dry, twiggy excuses for plants, and Forge lighting them up. The party had four little fires going before they went to sleep, and they left Flint and Forge to keep the fires going through the night to keep themselves warm and the monsters away.

---

The Proxians and their hostages made for the lighthouse at dawn. Alex moved ahead of them, having dressed and teleported out while everyone else was rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

Kraden remained incoherent, and Jenna was in a foul mood for having to wake up so early, but Isaac woke up amiable enough.

They reached the lighthouse in good time. Isaac waved to Alex, who waved back. Everyone took their time reaching the entrance. Alex had already done something to the door to unseal it, and once everyone was through he sealed it back.

Saturos and Menardi hesitated.

"Is that going to be enough to stop them?" Menardi asked skeptically.

"As long as they don't find Mia, yes," Alex replied easily.

"But that's not going to stop Mia," Saturos said. "And she is just going to let us walk through and light the lighthouse?"

"Ah, I see your point," Alex replied thoughtfully. He unsealed the entrance again, and allowed Menardi to go back through and wreak havoc on the entrance. A _burst_ here, a _burst_ there, and done. "Isaac, can you use your abilities to move that statue in front of the doorway?"

Isaac glanced at Jenna, who looked torn. She wanted to see her brother again, but she wanted to make sure that she could see her parents, too. She nodded reluctantly.

Isaac went to the entrance and _move_d a statue over to block the entrance to the lighthouse.

"There," Alex says. "Satisfied?"

"Well, actually," Menardi began, a creative look on her face. It was a foreign expression for her, and Alex didn't much like it.

After a brief explanation, Alex sighed the Sigh of the Eternally Patient Martyr and teleported away and back, a Lizard Man in tow.

Isaac and Jenna glanced at the beast worriedly. "They'll be fine," Isaac told her. Jenna nodded, but didnn't seem to be convinced.

---

Felix, Garet, and Ivan sat in the inn, resting a bit before they set out for the lighthouse. The sun was no longer high in the sky, but they still had a few hours before sunset.

"So, that girl," Garet began conversationally.

"What about her?" Felix replied. The innkeeper's wife brought them all steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"She had psynergy," Garet said.

"Yeah, and…?" Felix mumbled, lifting his mug of hot chocolate to blow on it.

Ivan took a sip of his, burnimg his tongue. "Ow, ow, ow! She healed didn't she?" he commented, fanning his mouth. Ivan set the mug down, glaring at it balefully. Gust hopped up on the table and began to fan it with its wings.

Felix nearly spilled his hot chocolate. "Stop that," he told Gust. Gust looked down in embarrassment (or something like it) and used one wing to lightly fan the top of Ivan's cocoa.

"Yeah," Garet replied. He took a big drink of his hot chocolate, then reacted much like Ivan. "Owowowow – she's not a Venus adept, though, is she?"

Felix shook his head and took a small sip of his hot chocolate. "No she wasn't. Probably a Mercury adept." Sap looked at the mug in wonder. It sniffed the air and seemed to fall back in ecstasy from the smell.

"Well, we don't have a Mercury adept, and you can only _cure_ so much," Ivan pointed out.

"He's right," Garet added. He took a hesitant sip of his cocoa. "Aww, I can barely taste it!"

Felix rolled his eyes and did a minimal _cure_ in the general direction of Garet's face. He did one for Ivan, too.

"Thanks. She probably knows something about the lighthouse, too," Ivan mumbled thoughtfully.

"That could be helpful," Felix said at last. "But we still don't know where to find her."

Suddenly, a blue flash of light washed over the room.

"I bet that caught her attention, let's go," Garet replied, grabbing his cloak off the back of the chair.

"Sap, find Flint and Forge and tell them to meet us at the lighthouse," Felix instructed. Ivan downed what he could of the hot chocolate and followed, Gust flying after him.

---

The girl from the old couple's house was standing outside of Mercury Lighthouse when they get there. She fretted about a statue blocking her path into the lighthouse.

"I know how to fix that," Garet boasted. He walked past her and _move_d the statue with ease. Felix rolled his eyes, and Ivan looked on interestedly.

"Could I learn how to do that?" he wondered aloud.

"I have no idea," Felix replied.

The Mercury adept, and there was no mistaking that due to her unusually-colored hair, a firm cerulean, thanked Garet hastily, then hopped to the entrance, muttering something as she used her psynergy to unseal the doorway.

"Hey, Felix!" Garet said from in front of them. Felix and Ivan casually caught up. "I think she just mentioned Alex."

Felix raised an eyebrow. Alex had had blue hair, and none of them could sense his psynergy, it would make sense. "All the more reason to catch up to her, then."

---

Isaac and Jenna trailed behind the rest of the party, silently worrying about their friends trailing behind. Ahead of them, Saturos and Menardi wreaked havoc randomly. Mostly Menardi would use _burst_ or something similar, and occasionally they would run into a monster or two and she would use _pyroclasm_ or something equally destructive. The result was that by the time Alex felt the faint presence of a much weaker group of psynergy users, the Proxians were up several floors and down quite a bit of psynergy.

"Isaac, be a dear and _move_ that statue over there," Menardi said mockingly. Isaac _move_d a statue of a pretty maiden carrying a water jug in front of where Menardi had _burst_ed out a good bit of narrow pathway. He made sure that the statue was within range of _move_, should Felix or Garet happen to pass through.

Some more walking proved that Saturos and Menardi were not exactly prepared for complicated tricks and traps to work around. Isaac and Jenna figured out how to get past the pipes, and Alex had to _ply _a statue to get everyone across the water.

---

"I think I can feel Jenna's psynergy ahead of us," Garet said. Forge, and his new djinni friend, Fever, followed him. Sap was trying to chat up Fizz, Mia's djinni, several feet behind the rest of the party. They had caught up about midway through the battle against the Lizard Man guarding the lighthouse.

Felix nodded. He had been able to sense Isaac for a while now. They were definitely getting closer to their friends.

"Treasure!" Ivan said suddenly, pointing to a treasure chest. Felix and Garet followed him through a waterfall to see that there was, indeed, a treasure chest at the end of an otherwise empty room.

"I'm not sure, I get a bad feeling from that thing," Mia said.

Garet shrugged. "If it's not any good, we can sell it. Nothing to it."

Of course, it turned out to be a Mimic. Afterwards, Mia saved all of her I-told-you-so's until Garet could walk again. It took a good bit of psynergy to heal him, and everyone else, up.

Even better, Felix thought sarcastically, the trip turned out to be a dead end. Jenna and Isaac were almost out of range again, too. The psynergy armor in the real chest under the other waterfall made it a little better, but the fact he was soaked from having to walk through waterfalls at all kind of killed any bonus to his day that the armor might have added.

---

Jenna sat down to watch the Proxians push around pipes, trying to get a statue to fall to the floor below. She sat, and waited, and stayed there doing nothing at all exciting _whatsoever_ until she could feel Garet's psynergy in the distance, getting stronger. The boys were getting closer. She reached out with her mind, like Alex taught her and managed to detect a friendly warmth – Felix and his earth-based psynergy, a cool, refreshing psynergy, water, she suspected, and a hard-to-catch psynergy. It took Jenna a moment to realize that this must be what wind psynergy felt like.

Isaac sat down next to her, after a while. He tried to wring out his scarf, but gave in rather quickly. They would probably just have to walk through yet more waterfalls, soon. At least the lighthouse was warmer than outside. There was no wind, for one thing.

Jenna took pity on him after a while, and she used the quick-heat manipulation of air she figured out on the way up. All those lectures on manipulation of her surroundings were going to be put to use, and Isaac wasn't the only one who could come up with his own special brand of psynergy moves.

After all that, Menardi started wreaking havoc on the lighthouse floors again, though she did wait until after the door in front of them was closed again.

Alex disappeared for a bit around then, to make sure that Felix and Garet and whoever they had brought along had to work to get the statue to open the door, as well, she supposed.

Isaac wondered why they hadn't just had Alex stand on the button while the rest of them went through the door, but he really wanted to see Felix again, and the more time the Proxians took, the more likely that became.

---

They pick up Sleet in another room full of waterfalls. It was nearly as big as Flint, and once they fight it, Sleet agreed to join the party, and Fizz began to talk after that. Mia was entirely thrown off by the fact that her trusted companion could now speak. She claimed it was like hearing a cat talk, to which Ivan replied that cats are much more dry and sarcastic.

Several floors later, the party came up in front of a statue. Mia used play, and the waterfall in front of them began flowing up.

---

Psynergy crackled through the air. Mia looked fully refreshed, but Garet looked far from it. She used a _ply_ on him, then on everyone else. She didn't look as if it had even affected her.

There was a blue light washing over everything, filling the air with a certain quality that made their shadows look like they were underwater.

"We're too late!" Mia cried.

"Felix!" Jenna called. Felix turned to find his sister and Isaac standing on one of the lighthouse's elevator platforms. Kraden and one of the foreigners there, too. Menny or Marda or something, Felix thought.

Isaac waved casually.

"Oh my, they're still alive!" Menardi frawled. "You came all this way to save Jenna and Kraden?"

Felix was about to say "Isaac, too," but Garet was faster, yelling, "We came here for the elemental stars!"

"Oh, did you hear that? They came to stop us. I suppose we have no choice, we'll just have to stop _them_," Menardi said coolly.

Jenna moved forward to stop Menardi, but Isaac grabbed her. "I know," he whispered, "but we can't do anything."

"Menardi, wait," another voice interrupted. The other foreigner, Saturn or something, stepped out from behind the giant glowing orb.

"But, Saturos–" Menardi started. Saturos stepped toward the group and made a speech that Felix didn't really hear, something about throwing their lives away. It was the same, arrogant load of crap he might have expected.

"Are you going to fight them alone?" Menardi said incredulously.

"He can take them," Isaac told her confidently. Jenna looked at him furiously. She lifted a hand to slap him across the face, as loudly and angrily as she possibly could, and then she got it.

"I can't even feel the end of Saturos' psynergy," Jenna pointed out, which, she realized, was a lie. The Mercury lighthouse must have put a damper on Saturos' power, because suddenly she ccould feel the end of his psynergy. It was vast, but four-against one odds should be a match for him. "You can feel Garet's strength, can't you?" Jenna reached out for the others and found that suddenly, the cool, refreshing psynergy she had felt before was a torrential flood of psynergy now. It was like comparing a little bubbling brook to a powerful river.

"I can't expect you to just leave our hostages alone," Saturos continued, gesturing to Isaac, Jenna, and Kraden.

"Well, that is true," Menardi replied hesitantly.

"Besides, I want to know how much they've grown."

And then Menardi rolled her eyes and scoffed. Of course. "Are you sure about this?" she asked one last time. Of course he was, the arrogant buffoon.

"Leave me be, start the journey to the next lighthouse," Saturos replied. He was already gathering psynergy for a strong opening attack.

Menardi pushed the Valeans further into the elevator to make room for herself. "Let's go already," she said exasperatedly. Jenna giggled.

"They shouldn't have followed us," Isaac mumbled to himself.

"Felix, Garet! Don't die!" Kraden shouted as the elevator descended.

"Oh, that's encouraging. He couldn't give us a 'good luck' or a 'be careful' it had to be 'don't die,'" Garet muttered, taking a defensive stance.

---

Felix, Garet, Ivan, and Mia won, but only barely. Ivan was unconcious, and Garet and Mia were only barely able to stand. Felix shouldn't have been able to by any standard, but the thought that Jenna and Isaac were so close drove him on. They could still catch up to the others if they hurried. He doubted that Saturos was carrying the elemental stars. Alex or Menardi probably had them.

Alex stepped out from behind the orb of light. Mia recognized his voice before he revealed himself, though. Felix might have been impressed if he weren't beginning to get the feeling that Alex was the sort of guy for big entrances and stupid things like that.

He babbled about the power of Mercury lighthouse until Mia called him mad. Eventually he got around to explaining about the lighthouse weakening Saturos because it was crackling with water-based psynergy, and Saturos was full of fire-based psynergy.

Saturos got up at last.

"But-but, we beat him!" Ivan protested.

"No, the lighthouse defeated me," Saturos insisted. He slowly made his way to Alex's side.

"I was merely stalling until Saturos regained his strength," Alex admitted.

"You were just buying time! That's not fair, Alex!" Mia protested feebly. Alex deflected her words with a smile, then turned to help Saturos.

It looked like the sort of well-practiced argument they might have had as children. Felix could see Alex cheating at things like hide-and-seek by waiting until Mia came out of hiding.

Garet shouted something at Saturos and Alex, a protest about them leaving after all that while Felix was considering Alex and Mia.

"Just what are you going to do, finish him off?" Alex replied coldly.

Garet hesitated, then shook his head. They could all tell that while he was reckless and rash, he was not a murderer.

Alex teleported to the side of the elevator.

"What? He warped? Does that mean you can do that, too?" Ivan asked, turning to face Mia.

"No, even Alex didn't have that power before," she replied, confused and a little afraid.

"Ah, well, I can't stay the same Alex you knew forever," he replied shamelessly. "It seems my ride has returned while we were speaking. And so, I bid you adieu."

"Wait, they still have the elemental stars!" Ivan shouted.

Saturos grinned. "Nah, Menardi has them. You don't think that I would go into a battle with those things, do you?"

"Ah, you still have the Mars star, right?" Alex said.

Felix nodded reluctantly. "Of course."

"I appreciate your honesty," Alex replied. And then he was gone. He warped Saturos and himself to the elevator and it left. "I shall see you the next time you try to take the elemental stars from us, then."

"I look forward to our next battle," Saturos said on the way down.

"Well, they could be worse enemies," Ivan commented.

"How?" Garet deadpanned.

"Alex could have fought us, or Saturos could have just pushed us off the side of the lighthouse."

Felix laughed. "Yeah, they could be worse. At least we didn't have to fight Menardi."

---

"…I don't deserve to be a healer," Mia said morosely. Everyone's attention snapped to her. "I couldn't even stop them from lighting the beacon. I've failed my clan, failed my duty…"

"That's not true! We can still beat them!" Ivan insisted.

"That's right. Only three more lighthouses to go. And we have the key to the last one," Felix added confidently. He pulled the Mars star out of his pocket.

Mia stood up, her confidence renewed. "Let's go after them now! What's the matter? We should hurry!"

"'We?' You're coming with us?" Garet replied, puzzled.

"Of course she is, come _on_," Felix said, moving to Mia's side. The djinn hop off of their chairs and join them.

"Okay," Garet said, a little uncertainly.

They dropped some gold in front of the innkeeper, and then they were gone, a fresh bottle of mystical lighthouse water in their pack, and enough confidence to get them across the frozen wasteland again.

---

A/N: I realized as I re-edited this, that Garet talks like he already knows who Alex is, despite my utter lack of a proper introduction for Alex. Um. I'm going with the idea that they heard about Alex from some other non-Mia villager, and connected him to that weird Mercury adept with the eyebrows that travels with Isaac, Saturos, and Menardi on their own. /fail.


End file.
